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Effect of controlled-release fertilizer on N2O emissions and tea yield from a tea field in subtropical central China

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Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.), a perennial leaf-harvested crop, favors warm/humid climate and acidic/well-drained soils, and demands high nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs which lead to significant emissions of N2O. Potential mitigation options should be adopted to improve N use efficiency (NUE) and reduce environmental pollution in tea field system. A 3-year field experiment was carried out in a tea field in southern China from January 2014 to December 2016 to investigate the effect of controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) application on N2O emissions in tea field system. Three practices, namely conventional treatment (CON, 105 kg N-oilcake ha−1 year−1 + 345 kg N-urea ha−1 year−1), treatment with a half amount of the N fertilizer (CRF50%, 105 kg N-oilcake ha−1 year−1 + 120 kg N CRF ha−1 year−1) and full amount of N fertilizer (CRF100%, 105 kg N-oilcake ha−1 year−1 + 345 kg N CRF ha−1 year−1) were used. Compared with the CON, our results showed that CRF50% reduced the N2O emissions by 26.2% (p > 0.05) and increased the tea yield by 31.3% (p > 0.05), while CRF100% significantly increased the N2O emissions by 96.7% (p < 0.05) and decreased the tea yield by 6.77% (p > 0.05). Overall, yield-scaled N2O emissions of tea were reduced by 44.5% (p > 0.05) under CRF50% and significantly increased by 100% (p < 0.05) under CRF100%, compared with CON. Based on the gross margin analysis, CRF50% obtained the highest net economic profit. Our findings suggest that reducing N input of CRF (CRF50%) is necessary and feasible for adoption in the current tea plantation system.

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Acknowledgments

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671243), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0201204), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2017418) financially supported this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region and Changsha Research Station for Agricultural & Environmental Monitoring, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan, 410125, China

    Yanzheng Wu, Yong Li, **aoqing Fu, Jianlin Shen, Dan Chen, Yi Wang, **nliang Liu, Runlin **ao, Wenxue Wei & **shui Wu

  2. Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Yanzheng Wu

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  1. Yanzheng Wu
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  2. Yong Li
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Correspondence to Yong Li or Jianlin Shen.

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Wu, Y., Li, Y., Fu, X. et al. Effect of controlled-release fertilizer on N2O emissions and tea yield from a tea field in subtropical central China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 25580–25590 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2646-2

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