On-farm trials of site-specific N management for maximum winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) yield

Site-specific nitrogen (N) fertilizer strategy based on soil mineral N (N_min) test is crucial for maintaining high crop yield and high N-use efficiency. A two-year field experiment was conducted to develop a site-specific N fertilizer management for winter oilseed rape in the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons in Wuhan, central China. In contrast to fixed N fertilizer recommendation (FN), the use of the N_min test could optimize the N fertilizer inputs in time to fulfill crop N uptake during different growth stages and achieve high seed yield. Despite annual variations in seed yields and N fertilizer recommendations, the N recovery efficiency of the site-specific N fertilizer (SN) treatment was higher than that of the FN treatment. Consequently, the soil-based N strategy matches crop N uptake and soil N supply and achieves high yield depending on the site-specific soil-crop conditions.