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| Effects of reducing nitrogen fertilizer and applying organic fertilizer on apple yield and quality and soil biological characteristics |
| Received:October 07, 2020 |
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| KeyWord:yield;quality;fertilizer reduction;organic fertilizer;combined application;soil microbial biomass;soil enzyme activity |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | YANG Li-li | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | | | WANG Yong-he | Soil and Fertilizer Workstation of Xunyi County, Shaanxi Province, Xunyi 711300, China | | | HAN Wen-she | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | | | MA Lin-ying | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | | | YANG Guai-cheng | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | | | HAN Yan-yun | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | | | TONG Yan-an | College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China | tongyanan@nwafu.edu.cn |
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| Abstract: |
| This study aimed to improve the current practice of unreasonable fertilization in apple orchards and to explore a suitable fertilization scheme for improving the soil and fruit quality and fertilizer efficiency of apple orchards. Red Fuji apples were treated using four methods of fertilizer application:conventional fertilization(T1), optimized nitrogen reduction(T2), replacing 25% of nitrogen fertilizer with organic fertilizer(T3), and replacing 50% of nitrogen fertilizer with organic fertilizer(T4). The total amount of nitrogen applied in the T2, T3, and T4 conditions was half of that applied in T1. The fruit yield and quality, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and soil enzyme activities were determined two years after the experiment. The fruit yield was not significantly different between T1 and T2, and the partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer in T2 was more than twice that in T1. T4 had the highest fruit yield, which was 5.4% higher than that in T1. T2, T3 and T4 had a significantly higher fruit soluble sugar and sugar-acid ratio than those in T1. Compared with those in T1 and T2, T3 and T4 had significantly lower titratable acid and a significantly higher sugar-acid ratio. T4 had the best fruit quality, and the ratios of soluble solids, soluble sugar, and sugar-acid ratio in T4 were 1.8%, 2.7%, and 16.9% higher than those in T1, respectively. Soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and soil enzyme activities were related to the soil layer depth and the application of organic fertilizer; particularly at a soil layer depth of 20~40 cm, the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and the activities of soil β-1,4-Nacetyl-glucosaminidase, β-1, 4-glucosidase, and cellobiohydrolase were significantly higher in T3 and T4 than in T1; there was a significant or extremely significant positive correlation between each pair of them. Given these results, it is recommended to reduce the amount of nitrogen applied in conventional fertilization by half, and replace 50% of nitrogen fertilizer with organic fertilizer in the apple orchards of Shaanxi Province so as to conserve chemical fertilizers, increase fruit yield, improve soil and fruit quality, and ultimately promote the sustainable development of apple orchards. |
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