Optimizing the synthetic nitrogen rate to balance residual nitrate and crop yield in a leguminous green-manured wheat cropping system

Abstract Nitrate that originates from agriculture is linked to a series of deleterious environmental consequences that are closely related to human health. Therefore, it is vital to design cropping systems that can produce acceptable crop yields while minimizing the impact of surplus soil nitrate. To develop quantitative estimations, data from 2008 to 2016 were evaluated using multiple regression models. A split-plot field experiment was conducted, with the main treatments of growing Huai bean, soybean and mung bean in summer as leguminous green manure (LGM) while fallow as the control. Four synthetic N rates (0, 108, 135 and 162 kg ha −1 ) were applied as sub-treatments at wheat seeding. The N accumulation for LGMs ranged from 61 to 90 kg ha −1 , and that of Huai bean was 46% higher than the average value of soybean and mung bean ( P −1 . For the LGM treatments, residual nitrate accumulated below the root-zone soil was not significantly increased even when their total N inputs were higher than that of fallow with 162 kg ha −1 of synthetic N. The estimated nitrate-holding capacity of the root-zone soil for the LGM treatments ranged from 104 to 117 kg ha −1 , and the corresponding synthetic N limits were 97–130 kg ha −1 . Considering the target of producing high wheat yields while keeping the residual nitrate in the root-zone soil, the optimal synthetic N rates for LGM treatments were 52–80 kg ha −1 . In conclusion, growing LGMs can maintain high crop yield and mitigate the environmental impact of residual nitrate by substantially replacing the synthetic N to avoid nitrate leaching to deeper soils.