Attainable yield and soil texture as drivers of maize response to nitrogen: A synthesis analysis for Argentina

CORRENDO, ADRIÁN A.; GUTIÉRREZ-BOEM, FLAVIO H.; GARCÍA, FERNANDO O.; ALVAREZ, CAROLINA; ÁLVAREZ, CRISTIAN; ANGELI, ARIEL; BARBIERI, PABLO; BARRACO, MIRIAN; BERARDO, ANGEL; BOXLER, MIGUEL; CALVIÑO, PABLO; CAPURRO, JULIA E.; CARTA, HÉCTOR; CAVIGLIA, OCTAVIO; CIAMPITTI, IGNACIO A.; DÍAZ-ZORITA, MARTÍN; DÍAZ-VALDÉZ, SANTIAGO; ECHEVERRÍA, HERNÁN E.; ESPÓSITO, GABRIEL; FERRARI, MANUEL; FERRARIS, GUSTAVO N.; GAMBAUDO, SEBASTIAN; GUDELJ, VICENTE; IOELE, JUAN P.; MELCHIORI, RICARDO J.M.; MOLINO, JOSEFINA; ORCELLET, JUAN M.; PAGANI, AGUSTIN; PAUTASSO, JUAN M.; CALVO, NAHUEL I. REUSSI; REDEL, MATÍAS; RILLO, SERGIO; RIMSKI-KORSAKOV, HELENA; SAINZ-ROZAS, HERNÁN R.; SAKS, MATÍAS; TELLERÍA, MA. GUADALUPE; VENTIMIGLIA, LUIS; ZORZÍN, JOSE L.; ZUBILLAGA, MA. MERCEDES; SALVAGIOTTI, FERNANDO

FIELD CROPS RESEARCH

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2021 vol. 273

0378-4290

The most widely used approach for diagnosing fertilizer nitrogen (N) recommendations in maize (Zea Mays L.) in Argentina is based on the relationship between grain yield and initial N availability (kg N ha-1), as the sum of pre-plant soil NO3--N at 0-60 cm depth (PPNT) plus fertilizer N (Nf). However, combining covariates related to croo N demand and soil N supply at a large scale remains unexplored for this model. The aim of this work was to identify yield response patterns associated to yield environment (crop N demand driver) and soil texture (sol N supply driver). A database of 788 experiments (1980 -2016) was gathered and analyzed combining quadratic-plateau regression models with bootstrapping to address expected values and variability on response parameters and derived quantities. The database was divided into three groups according to soil texture (fine, medium, and coarse) and five groups based on the empirical distribution of maximum observed yields (from Very-Low = 13.1 Mg ha-1) resulting in fifteen groups. The best model included both, attainable yield environment and soil texture. The yield environment mainly modified the optimum available N (AONav), with an expected increase rate of ca. 21.4 kg N Mg attainable yield-1, regardless of the soil texture. In Very-Low yield environments, AONav was characterized by a high level of uncertainty, related to a poor fit of the N response model . To a lesser extent, soil texture modified the response rate to N (Fine > Medium > Coarse), and N use efficiencies. Considering theoretical PPNT levels of 40, 80, and 120 kg N ha-1, the expected agronomic efficiency (AENf) at the AONav varied from 7 to 31, and 9-29 kg yield response kg fertilizer N (Nf)-1, for Low and Verty-High yield environments, respectively. Similarly, the expected partial factor productivity (PPNT) at the AONav ranged from 62 to 158, and 55 to 99 kg yield kg Nf-1, for the same yield environments. These results highlight the importance of combining attainable yield environment and soil texture meta data for refining N fertilizer recommendations. Acknowledging the still low N fertilizer use in Argentina, space exists to safely increasing N fertilizer rates, steering the historical soil N mining profile to a more sustainable agro-environmental scenario in the Pampas.