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. 2017 Sep 21;10(1):43.
doi: 10.1186/s12284-017-0182-1.

Higher yields of hybrid rice do not depend on nitrogen fertilization under moderate to high soil fertility conditions

Min Huang  1   2 , Peng Jiang  3 , Shuanglü Shan  3 , Wei Gao  3 , Guohui Ma  4 , Yingbin Zou  3 , Norman Uphoff  5 , Longping Yuan  4
Affiliations

Higher yields of hybrid rice do not depend on nitrogen fertilization under moderate to high soil fertility conditions

Min Huang et al. Rice (N Y). .

Abstract

Background: Increasing rice yield with fewer external inputs is critical to ensuring food security, reducing environmental costs, and improving returns. Use of hybrid rice has expanded greatly in China due to its higher yield potential. Meanwhile, large and increasing amounts of nitrogen (N) fertilizers have been used for expanding rice production in China. It is not clear to what extent the success of hybrid rice in China is associated with N fertilizer inputs.

Findings: We observed that the higher grain yield with N fertilizer in hybrid rice was driven more by a higher yield without N fertilizer than by increases in grain yield with N fertilizer under moderate to high soil fertility conditions.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that greater application of N fertilizers is not needed to benefit from hybrid rice production under moderate to high soil fertility conditions, and that improving and maintaining soil fertility should be a focus for sustaining hybrid rice production. Moreover, our study also indicates that zero-N testing may be a potentially useful tool to develop hybrid rice with high yield and without requirement of greater external N inputs under moderate to high soil fertility conditions.

Keywords: Grain yield; Hybrid rice; Nitrogen inputs; Sustainable crop production.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Grain yield with N fertilizer (YN, a–c), grain yield without N fertilizer (Y0, d–f), and increase in grain yield with N fertilizer (∆YN, g–i) of hybrid and inbred rice cultivars grown in Xingyi, Guizhou Province, China in 2012 (a, d and g), 2013 (b, e and h) and 2014 (c, f and i). LYPJ (Liangyoupeijiu), YLY1 (Y-liangyou 1), LY9348 (Luoyou 9348) and WY308 (Wuyou 308) are hybrid rice cultivars. HHZ (Huanghuazhan) and YXYZ (Yuxiangyouzhan) are inbred rice cultivars. Data in a–c and g–i are the means across two N fertilizer rates. Data points are means and standard deviations of three replications (d–f) or six replications (a–c and g–i). Data points marked with the same letters are not significantly different at the 0.05 probability level according to LSD test
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Trends in grain yield with N fertilizer (YN, a), grain yield without N fertilizer (Y0, b), and increase in grain yield with N fertilizer (∆YN, c) of representative hybrid rice cultivars developed during different phases in China since 1996. Phases I, II, III, IV and V are 1996–2000, 2001–2005, 2006–2010, 2011–2015, and 2016–, respectively. Data were obtained from field experiments in which five representative hybrid rice cultivars of the five phases (i.e., Liangyoupeijiu, Y-liangyou 1, Y-liangyou 2, Y-liangyou 900, and Chaoyou 1000) were grown in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, China in 2015 (open circle) and 2016 (closed circle). Data in a and c are the means across two N fertilizer rates. Data points are means and standard deviations of three replications (b) or six replications (a and c). Trend (slope) in c is not statistically significant at the 0.05 probability level according to Student’s t test
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relationships of grain yield with N fertilizer (YN) to grain yield without N fertilizer (Y0, a) and increase in grain yield with N fertilizer (∆YN, b) in hybrid rice cultivars. Data are a combination of those from hybrid rice cultivars in Figs. 1 and 2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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