Pedosphere 16(1): 25-32, 2006

ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P

@ 2006 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier Limited and Science Press

Long-Term Effects of Manure and Inorganic Fertilizers on

Yield and Soil Fertility for a Winter Wheat-Maize
System in Jiangsu, China*'

JIANG Dong', H. HENGSDIJK2, DAI Ting-Bo', W. de BOER2, JING Qi' and CAO Wei-Xing'?*'
'Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, Nanjing Agricultural
University, Nanjing 210095 (China). E-mail: jiangd@njau.edu. cn
'Plant Research International, P. 0. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen (Netherlands)
(Received July 6, 2005; revised November 12, 2005)

ABSTRACT
Winter wheat-maize rotations are dominant cropping systems on the North China Plain, where recently the use of
organic manure with grain crops has almost disappeared. This could reduce soil fertility and crop productivity in the long
run. A 20-year field experiment was conducted t o 1) assess the effect of inorganic and organic nutrient sources on yield
and yield trends of both winter wheat and maize, 2) monitor the changes in soil organic matter content under continuous
wheat-maize cropping with different soil fertility management schemes, and 3) identify reasons for yield trends observed
in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, over a 20-year period. There were eight treatments applied to both wheat and maize
seasons: a control treatment (C); three inorganic fertilizers, that is, nitrogen (N), nitrogen and phosphorus (NP), and
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK); and addition of farmyard manure (FYM) to these four treatments, that is,
M, MN, MNP, and MNPK. At the end of the experiment the MN, MNP, and MNPK treatments had the highest yields,
about 7 t wheat ha-' and 7.5 t maize ha-', with each about 1t ha-' more than the NPK treatments. Over 20 years with
FYM soil organic matter increased by 80% compared to only 10% with NPK, which explained yield increases. However,
from an environmental and agronomic perspective, manure application was not a superior strategy to NPK fertilizers.
If manure was to be applied, though, it would be best applied to the wheat crop, which showed a better response than
maize.

Key Words: manure, NPK-fertilizer, soil organic matter, Triticum aestivum L., Zea mays L.

INTRODUCTION

The North China Plain encompasses about 35 million ha and is one of the most important agri-
cultural regions in China. Winter wheat-maize rotations are dominant cropping systems in this area,
which is also known as the 3-H Plain, roughly enclosed by the Huanghe, Huaihe, and Haihe Rivers and
comprising the provinces and municipalities of Henan, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, and Shandong, as well
as parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. Based on China's official Agricultural Statistics, Liu
et al. (2003) estimated the area in the 3-H Plain covered by the winter wheat-maize rotation plantation
to be at least 14 million ha. The importance of this cropping system may further increase in the near
future for two reasons: first, China needs to increase its food production for its rapidly growing popu-
lation, namely an estimated 1.48 billion in 2025 against 1.22 billion in 1995; second, as living standards
in China are scaling due to the economic development, it is likely that future diet of the Chinese will
comprise more meat (Heilig, 1999). Hence it becomes inevitable that wheat and maize will be grown
abundantly as they are potentially important feed sources for China's livestock industry.
Since the 1960s, traditional agricultural practices in China have changed dramatically. With the
introduction of mechanization and new crop varieties, application of inorganic fertilizers and biocides
have enabled a doubling of soil productivity (Ellis and Wang, 1997). Since the late 1980s with the
*lProject supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30030090) and the National High-Tech
Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2003AA209030).
*2Corresponding author. E-mail: caow@njau.edu.cn.
26 D. JIANG et al.

introduction of fertilizers and the increase in labor cost, the traditional and labor-intensive practice of
applying organic manure in arable cropping systems has almost disappeared. For example, in 1986 the
application of nitrogen with manure was around 50 kg N ha-' for irrigated rice, still accounting for 30%
of the total applied nitrogen, whereas in 1990 it was reduced to 20 kg N ha-' accounting for only 7%
of the total applied nitrogen (Zhu and Chen, 2002). Common resources of manure were canal sludge,
animal and human excretions, ashes, green manure, and waterlogged compost consisting of a fermented
mixture of these sources. .In general, the use of manure was considered key for maintaining or improving
soil quality and crop productivity (Gao et al., 2000; Gill and Meelu, 1982; Rasmussen and Parton, 1994;
Reeves, 1997; Xu and Shen, 2004).
Recently, yield trends in a great number of long-term soil fertility experiments in Asia with rice-rice
and rice-wheat systems have been described (Bhandari et al., 2002; Dawe et al., 2003; Gami et al.,
2001; Ladha et al., 2003; Lai et al., 2003; Regmi et al., 2002). In contrast, little information is available
on the consequences of long-term soil fertility management for productivity of wheat-maize systems in
Asia. Moreover, very little information is available on the effects of abandoning manure application
on crop productivity and soil quality. With current soil fertility management in wheat-maize systems
external organic matter sources are rarely supplied, which in the long run may affect soil organic matter
stocks, nutrient recovery as well as productivity of cropping systems (Timsina and Conner, 2001). Also,
long-term field experiments help assess the effects of different types of nutrient management on the
cropping system's capability of maintaining productivity and help determine the relationship between
soil organic matter and crop productivity (Hao et al., 2005; Kong et al., 2003; &in et al., 1998).
This article presents the results of a long-term wheat-maize field experiment from 1981 to 2001
in the northern part of China's Jiangsu Province. The area where the experiment was carried out
was representative of the vast area of the 3-H Plain where wheat-maize systems dominated. In the
experiment, effects of different combinations of inorganic fertilizer and organic manure were assessed.
The objectives of the study were to 1) assess effects of inorganic and organic nutrient sources on yield
and yield trends of both winter wheat and maize, 2) monitor the changes in soil organic matter content
under continuous wheat-maize cropping with different soil fertility management schemes, and 3) identify
reasons for yield trends observed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experimental

The experiment was carried out at the Xuzhou Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Xuzhou (34" N,
117' E), Jiangsu Province, China from 1981 to 2001. Selected properties of the yellow fluvo-aquic soil
with sandy texture identified at the start of the experiment are shown in Table I. During the wheat
season, average rainfall was about 80 mm from November to February and 240 mm from March to June.
Average daily temperature was about 3.2 O C in the winter period from November to February and 17.1
"C from March to June. In the maize season, rainfall varied between 500 and 650 mm, while the average
daily temperature was 23.6 "C.
TABLE I
Characteristics of the 0 to 20 and 20 to 40 cm layers of the soil at Xuzhou, China
Soil layer pH Particle size distribution Organic Total N Total P Available P Available K
matter
< 0.01 mm < 0.002 mm
cm g kg-l mg kg-l
0-20 8.3 141.1 59.8 10.79 0.66 326 5 51
20-40 8.4 161.4 69.9 4.56 0.33 - 1 -

The experiment included eight treatments, which were applied to both wheat and maize seasons.
MANURE EFFECT IN WHEAT-MAIZE SYSTEM 27

It included a control treatment (C), three treatments that received only inorganic fertilizers, that is,
nitrogen (N), nitrogen and phosphorus (NP), or a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
(NPK), and four treatments that were identical but supplemented with farmyard manure (FYM) and
designated M (when only FYM was applied), MN (FYM and N fertilizer were applied), MNP (FYM,
N, and P fertilizers were applied), and MNPK (FYM and N, P and K fertilizers were applied). The
treatments were arranged as a split plot design with manure applied on main plots and inorganic fertilizer
on sub-plots. Each plot of 33.3 m2 received the same treatment in every cropping season during the
20-year experiment.

Cultural practices

Before sowing, all farmyard manure, P and K fertilizer as well as 50% of the inorganic N fertilizer
were applied with the rest of the N fertilizer being top-dressed at the jointing stage of both winter wheat
and maize. During the entire experiment period, the application amount of N, P, and K fertilizer was
150 kg N ha-', 50 kg P2O5 ha-' , and 93 kg K2O ha-', respectively. While in the first four years of
the experiment (1981-1984) horse excretion was used at 37.5 t ha-' containing 7.21 g N kg-', 2.10 g
P2O5 kg-', and 7.49 g K20 kg-' on fresh weight basis, that is, 270 kg N ha-', 79 kg P2O5 ha-', and
281 kg K20 ha-' were supplemented in each growth season. During the remaining experiment period
(1985-2001), cow dung was used as FYM at a rate of 18.75 t ha-' containing 5.41 g N kg-', 2.42 g
Pz05 kg-', and 5.66 g K20 kg-' on a fresh weight basis, that is, 101 kg N ha-', 45 kg P2O5 ha-',
and 106 kg K2O ha-' were supplemented. This meant that the total nutrient input in FYM treatments
exceeded that for respective treatments with inorganic fertilizer only (M 'us. C, MN 'us. N etc.), and
FYM treatments received much higher nutrient levels in the first four years than during the remainder
of the experiment.
During the experimental period different winter wheat and maize varieties were used. Typically,
winter wheat (Triticum aestiwum L.) was grown at the end of October and harvested in early June,
followed by the sowing of maize (Zea mays L.) in mid June, which was harvested in mid October.
Depending on their water requirements in specific seasons both the wheat and maize crops were irrigated.
To control growth-reducing factors, hand weeding and other plant protection measures were applied as
needed. For grain yield measurements crops were harvested manually at maturity from a 4 m2 area in
the center of the plot.

Soil sampling and analysis

Each year after the maize harvest soil samples were collected t o study the effect of the treatments
on soil organic matter. Soil samples were air-dried, ground, and sieved t o particles less than 2 mm.
Soil texture was determined by the pipette method, SOM was determined by a standard potassium
dichromate digest method, and total N was measured with the Kjeldahl method. To determine the
total P and available P, soil samples were first extracted with HC104-H2S04 solution and 0.5 mol
L-' NaHC03 (pH 8.5), respectively. Subsequently, the Olsen P method was used. Available K was
extracted with an ammonium acetate solution (NH~OAC, 1 mol L-') and then determined with a flame
photometer.

Data analysis

First, the maize and wheat yield over 20 years was graphed and described. To analyze the effect
of fertilizers, FYM and soil organic matter content on yield, a linear mixed model was used for both
the wheat and maize averaged yield data. Since the differences in yields between years were not the
prime subject of interest, experimental years were taken as a random factor representing variation
from uncontrolled sources like the effect of weather and/or gradually changing management during
the experiment. In this way conclusions were not restricted t o the experimental years but could be
28 D. JIANG et al.

generalized over a wider period. Fixed terms in the model were inorganic fertilizer, manure, and the soil
organic matter content. Since the accumulation of organic matter in the soil, due to the application of
FYM, could affect yield levels, soil organic matter was used as a covariate, that is, the organic matter
content of collected soil samples in each year was used as a measure for soil fertility in the following
year. Also for soil organic matter both a linear and quadratic model were tested. Main effects and
all interactions between fixed terms for the predicted model were analyzed and tested at the 5% level.
Statistical analyses were performed using the LSD test with the statistical software package GenStat
(GenStat 6 Committee, 2002).
To distinguish yield effects caused by a change in soil organic matter from other effects, such as
the relationship between yield, fertilizer, FYM, and soil organic matter, the same model was used
but with a constant soil organic matter content. Regression analysis with the accumulation in soil
organic matter under the FYM treatments was also employed using the ANOVA test. Finally, based on
the presented analyses, consequences for soil fertility management of wheat-maize systems in northern
Jiangsu Province are discussed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Observed yields and soil organic matter content

At the start of the experiment in most treatments, especially with wheat, it was observed that the
yield increased with most treatments after which it decreased or remained more or less stable (Fig. 1).
At the end of the experiment, wheat yields increased slightly again. In the long run, the decline in yield
of both wheat and maize was the strongest with the C and N treatments. At the end of the experiment,
the FYM treatments (MN, MNP, and MNPK) had the highest yields, that is, about 7 t wheat ha-'
and 7.5 t maize ha-'. In both the wheat and maize crop, yields of the NPK treatment were about 1
t ha-' lower than those of MNPK treatment but still higher than those of the treatment with manure
only (M). Though yields of both wheat and maize were higher in the NPK than the M treatment, the
crops responded differently: maize yield converged in both treatments, that is, the difference at the end
of the experiment was only about 0.3 t ha-'. In contrast, wheat yields of both treatments remained
distinct until the end of the experiment, that is, yields of NPK treatment were about 2 t ha-' higher.
A similar, but less pronounced tendency, could be observed for the NPK and N P treatments. Here, the
absence of K fertilizer seemed t o affect maize yields less than wheat.

1 1 - 0 M MN A MNP + MNPK

The change in soil organic matter content in the 0-20 cm layer during the experiment showed three
main effects (Fig.2). First, soil organic matter under the control treatment (C) declined rapidly in
the first years after which it remained more or less stable and even seemed t o increase a t the end of
MANURE EFFECT IN WHEAT-MAIZE SYSTEM 29

the experiment. Overall reduction in soil organic matter under the control treatment was less than 6%
in 20 years. Second, soil organic matter under the inorganic fertilizer treatments (N, NP, and NPK)
increased slightly at the end of the experiment. For the average soil organic matter of the N, NP, and
NPK treatments the difference between the start and the end of the experiment was about 10%. Third,
all FYM treatments showed a rapid increase i.n soil organic matter after which it seemed to stabilize till
the end of the experiment when it is about 80% higher than at the start.

23 r

-
m
21
Y oc
0)
v
19 n N
t
c
17 A NP
0 NPK
2 15
OM
E
.- 13
o MN
A MNP
6 11 + MNPK
P
0 9
7~""'"""""""'
1981 1986 1991 1996 2001
Year
Fig. 2 Change in soil organic matter content (0-20 cm) in the 20-year field experiment at Xuzhou, China.

Statistical analysis: the effect of fertilizer, FYM, and soil organic matter

The effect of FYM, fertilizer, soil organic matter content, and the interaction between FYM and
fertilizer on both wheat and maize yield was found significant ( P < 0.001) However, the quadratic term
for soil organic matter content was not significant. Fig. 3 shows the predicted yields taking into account
the soil organic matter content in the preceding year. In contrast with the observed yields in Fig. 1,
predicted yields showed less variation (Fig. 3). As a consequence of using the years as a random factor,
annual variations due to variable weather conditions were eliminated and trends could be more easily
identified. Therefore, Fig. 3 shows the consequences of fluctuations in measured soil organic matter and
the effect of a gradual accumulation in organic matter of the soil under the FYM treatments. All FYM
treatments showed a clear increase in yield and the decreases in yield of the C , N, and N P treatments
were much smaller than in the observed yields (Fig. 1). As soil organic matter of the fertilizer and
control treatments hardly changed (Fig. 2), predicted yields of these treatments were almost constant.

- 7
m
r 6
c

1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001
Year
Fig. 3 Predicted yields of wheat (a) and maize (b) with fitted model results using FYM, fertilizer and soil organic matter
as fixed values and excluding the effect of different years.
30 D. JIANG et al.

To analyze the relationship between yield, fertilizer, FYM, and soil organic matter content in a
better way the same model has been used but by using a constant soil organic matter content. In this
way yield effects caused by a change in soil organic matter content can be distinguished from other
effects. Here, the average soil organic matter content (14.37 g kg-l) during the experimental period
has been used. Table I1 shows the predicted yields for wheat and maize under fertilizer and FYM
treatments using the soil organic matter content. Though effects of the accumulated soil organic matter
under the FYM treatments were absent, compared to the C, N, and NP treatments, application of
manure still had a positive effect on both the predicted wheat and maize yields. The effects of the
NPK treatment on both the predicted wheat and maize yields were not significantly different from the
MNPK treatment (P > 0.05). The use of only NPK fertilizers resulted in a similar yield level as attained
with the application of manure in combination with N fertilizer (MN). Apparently, sufficient P and K
were supplied with the manure and did not require to be supplied additionally in the form of inorganic
fertilier to realize the same yield level. Because yields of the M treatment of maize were relatively high,
the response to nitrogen with manure fertilizer (MN) was much stronger for wheat than for maize.
TABLE I1
Predicted yields of wheat and maize for different combinationsof fertilizer and FYM applications on the basis of a constant
soil organic matter content (14.37 g kg-l) during the 20-year experimental period of the wheat-maize experiment in
Xuzhou, China

Crop Treatment")

C N NP NPK M MN MNP MNPK

Wheat (t ha-l) 2.2 3.5 5.1 6.2 3.2 5.9 5.9 6.1
Maize (t ha-l) 3.4 5.0 6.2 7.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 7.2

")G-control, N-nitrogen, NP-nitrogen and phosphorus, NPK-nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, M-farmyard
manure, and N, NP, and NPK supplemented with farmyard manure are MN, MNP, and MNPK, respectively.

Regression coefficients of predicted yield versus soil organic matter with standard errors were 0.107
(SE = 0.021) and 0.086 (SE = 0.014) for wheat and maize, respectively. These could be interpreted
as the increase in yield (in t had1) when the soil organic matter content was increased by one unit (1
g kg-l). During the 20 years of the experiment, soil organic matter of the FYM treatments increased
between 8 and 11 g kg-l (Fig. 2). Hence, as a consequence of the accumulation in soil organic matter
under the FYM treatments (Fig. 4), yields of wheat would have increased between 0.86 and 1.18 t ha-l
and of maize between 0.69 and 0.95 t ha-'. However, despite the increasing yield effect from soil organic

A
7 8 -
Q
c
Y
+I

E 6 -
.-2.
Q)

U
d 4 -
.-0
TI
2
a 2 -
x Wheat y = 264.3 x + 889.96 ? = 0.4265"
0 Maize y = 235.6 x + 2650.6 ? = 0.4332"
MANURE EFFECT IN WHEAT-MAIZE SYSTEM 31

matter (Fig.2), yields of NPK treatment were still higher than those attained in the M treatment
because the overall yield level of the latter was lower (Fig. 3).

Implications

During the 20 years of the experiment the response of wheat and maize to manure was distinct
(Fig. 1). This was probably related to the poor synchronization of nutrient availability from manure
with the nutrient requirements of the wheat crop and nutrient losses from manure during the winter
season. In contrast, nutrients applied with the manure in maize were available in a timely way for crop
uptake in the summer season.
An emerging concern in rice-wheat systems was the degradation of soil organic matter and a reduc-
tion in the nutrient supply capacity (Timsina and Conner, 2001). This study with wheat-maize systems
showed that the soil organic matter stock decreased only slightly in the C treatment receiving no fer-
tilizer or manure over a 20-year period (Fig. 2). In contrast, during the same period in treatments that
received only inorganic fertilizers, soil organic matter content increased about 10% (Fig. 2). Apparently,
the annual input of organic matter via the roots and crop debris was sufficient to slightly increase the
soil organic matter stocks in these treatments. Meanwhile, organic matter applied in the form of FYM
increased soil organic matter stocks in the upper soil layer by about 80% (Fig.2). The increased soil
organic matter content contributed to higher yields in the FYM treatments with inorganic fertilizers
(N, NP, or NPK), that is, over a period of 20 years the yield effect was about 1 t ha-' in both wheat
and maize. This could be related to more doses of N, P, and K nutrients from the additional manure
that were supplied in the FYM treatments as compared with the fertilizer treatments. However, the
use of these organic N, P and K nutrients depended on the uncertain mineralization process in the soil
(Li et al, 2005). Therefore, although the effect of the additional nutrients on the FYM treatments was
not determined in the present study, we suggest the other factors could also have contributed to the
yield effect of soil organic matter in the FYM treatments in this experiment. This was most likely a
combination of different factors such as improved nutrient supply capacity and water retention of the
soils involved (Reeves, 1997).
Though the agronomic benefits of improved soil organic matter stocks in terms of increased yields
were obvious in this experiment, environmental consideration should also be taken into account to
make a well-balanced decision on the use of manure in wheat-maize cropping systems. Total nutrient
input with the combined FYM and inorganic fertilizer treatments was much higher than with only
the inorganic fertilizer treatments. Within the experiment, there were no measurements with respect
to nutrient emissions, but the high nutrient inputs with the combined FYM and fertilizer treatments
increased the risk of undesired nutrient emissions to the environment. The results also suggested that
increasing soil organic matter stocks paid off, but these stocks in the FYM treatments tended to stabilize
(Fig.2) with the level being about 20 g kg-l. This meant that even more manure, than the already
high input levels used in this experiment, was required to increase soil organic matter content further
and to further benefit from its yield effect.
In short, from environmental and agronomic points of view the application of manure was not
a superior strategy to the application of NPK fertilizers. In a case where manure was part of the
agricultural system as in mixed farming systems it would be best applied in the wheat crop, which
showed a better response than maize.

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