CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions from double-rice cropping system as affected by Chinese milk vetch and straw incorporation in southern China

Abstract

Chinese milk vetch (CMV) and rice straw (RS) were incorporated into soil to substitute for synthetic N fertilizers and to maintain soil fertility. However, little is known about the integrated impacts of CMV and RS incorporation on CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions in double-rice cropping systems in southern China. A field experiment was conducted to estimate the integrated impacts of CMV and RS incorporation in the early- and late-rice seasons on CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions. All treatments received uniform N inputs, 6%–37% of which was replaced by CMV and RS crop residue. CMV and/or RS incorporation produced equivalent or slightly more grain yield, while reducing N ₂ O emissions by 3%–43%. However, both CMV and RS incorporation increased CH ₄ emissions. Annual CH ₄ emissions ranged from 321 to 614 kg·hm ^{− 2} from CMV and RS amendment treatments, which were 1.5–2.9 times higher than that from synthetic N. Compared with single synthetic N fertilizer, incorporation of CMV and/or RS increased GWP and yield-scaled GWP by 45%–164% and 45%–153%, respectively. Our results demonstrate CMV and RS amendments replacing N fertilizer, maintained stable yield, mitigated N ₂ O emission, but enhanced CH ₄ emission. Further study is needed on crop residue management in double-cropping rice systems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Chinese milk vetch / CH ₄ / double-rice cropping system / grain yield / N ₂ O / rice straw

References

[1] Montzka S A , Dlugokencky E J , Butler J H . Non-CO ₂ greenhouse gases and climate change. Nature , 2011 , 476 ( 7358 ): 43 – 50

[2] Ravishankara A R , Daniel J S , Portmann R W . Nitrous oxide (N ₂ O): the dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century. Science , 2009 , 326 ( 5949 ): 123 – 125

[3] IPCC . Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. 2007 , Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York , NY, USA : Cambridge University Press , 996

[4] FAO . Food and Agriculture Origanization statistical database . Rome: FAO, 2013

[5] Bruinsma J . World agriculture towards 2015/2030: an FAO perspective . Alexandratos N , 2003 , 432

[6] Zhang F S , Chen X P , Vitousek P . Chinese agriculture: an experiment for the world. Nature , 2013 , 497 ( 7447 ): 33 – 35

[7] Aulakh M S , Khera T S , Doran J W , Kuldip-Singh , Bijay-Singh . Yields and nitrogen dynamics in a rice-wheat system using green manure and inorganic fertilizer. Soil Science Society of America Journal , 2000 , 64 ( 5 ): 1867 – 1876

[8] Liu H , Jiang G , Zhuang H , Wang K . Distribution, utilization structure and potential of biomass resources in rural China: with special references of crop residues. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews , 2008 , 12 ( 5 ): 1402 – 1418

[9] Gadde B , Bonnet S , Menke C , Garivait S . Air pollutant emissions from rice straw open field burning in India, Thailand and the Philippines. Environmental Pollution , 2009 , 157 ( 5 ): 1554 – 1558

[10] Li F , Cao X , Zhao L , Yang F , Wang J , Wang S . Short-term effects of raw rice straw and its derived biochar on greenhouse gas emission in five typical soils in China. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition , 2013 , 59 ( 5 ): 800 – 811

[11] Zhu B , Yi L X , Guo L M , Chen G , Hu Y G , Tang H M , Xiao C F , Xiao X P , Yang G L , Acharya S N , Zeng Z H . Performance of two winter cover crops and their impacts on soil properties and two subsequent rice crops in Dongting Lake Plain, Hunan, China. Soil & Tillage Research , 2012 , 124 ( 4 ): 95 – 101

[12] Ma J , Ma E D , Xu H , Yagi K , Cai Z C . Wheat straw management affects CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions from rice fields. Soil Biology & Biochemistry , 2009 , 41 ( 5 ): 1022 – 1028

[13] Lee C H , Park K D , Jung K Y , Ali M A , Lee D , Gutierrez J , Kim P J . Effect of Chinese milk vetch ( Astragalus sinicus L.) as a green manure on rice productivity and methane emission in paddy soil. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 2010 , 138 ( 3–4 ): 343 – 347

[14] Zhu B , Yi L X , Hu Y G , Zeng Z H , Tang H M , Yang G L , Xiao X P . Effects of Chinese milk vetch ( Astragalus sinicus L.) residue incorporation on CH ₄ and N ₂ O emission from a double-rice paddy soil. Journal of Integrative Agriculture , 2012 , 11 ( 9 ): 1537 – 1544

[15] Ji X , Wu J , Peng H , Shi L , Zhang Z , Liu Z , Tian F , Huo L , Zhu J . The effect of rice straw incorporation into paddy soil on carbon sequestration and emissions in the double cropping rice system. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture , 2012 , 92 ( 5 ): 1038 – 1045

[16] Zou J W , Huang Y , Jiang J Y , Zheng X H , Sass R L . A 3-year field measurement of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddies in China: effects of water regime, crop residue, and fertilizer application. Global Biogeochemical Cycles , 2005 , 19 ( 2 ): 9

[17] Zou J W , Huang Y , Zong L G , Zheng X H , Wang Y S . Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions from a rice-wheat rotation as affected by crop residue incorporation and temperature. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences , 2004 , 21 ( 5 ): 691 – 698

[18] Yao Z S , Zheng X H , Dong H B , Wang R , Mei B L , Zhu J G . A 3-year record of N ₂ O and CH ₄ emissions from a sandy loam paddy during rice seasons as affected by different nitrogen application rates. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 2012 , 152 : 1 – 9

[19] Bridgham S D , Cadillo-Quiroz H , Keller J K , Zhuang Q . Methane emissions from wetlands: biogeochemical, microbial, and modeling perspectives from local to global scales. Global Change Biology , 2013 , 19 ( 5 ): 1325 – 1346

[20] Neue H U . Methane emission from rice fields. Bioscience , 1993 , 43 ( 7 ): 466 – 474

[21] Sass R L . Methane emissions from rice paddies, factors affecting. In: Lal R eds . Encyclopedia of Soil Science . 2nd ed . Boca Raton : CRC Press , 2005 : 1057 – 1059

[22] Linquist B A , Adviento-Borbe M A , Pittelkow C M , van Kessel C , van Groenigen K J . Fertilizer management practices and greenhouse gas emissions from rice systems: a quantitative review and analysis. Field Crops Research , 2012 , 135 ( 3 ): 10 – 21

[23] Ma J , Xu H , Yagi K , Cai Z . Methane emission from paddy soils as affected by wheat straw returning mode. Plant and Soil , 2008 , 313 ( 1–2 ): 167 – 174

[24] Wang Y , Liu X , Butterly C , Tang C , Xu J . pH change, carbon and nitrogen mineralization in paddy soils as affected by Chinese milk vetch addition and soil water regime. Journal of Soils and Sediments , 2013 , 13 ( 4 ): 654 – 663

[25] Bouwman A F , Boumans L J M , Batjes N H . Modeling global annual N ₂ O and NO emissions from fertilized fields. Global Biogeochemical Cycles , 2002 , 16 ( 4 ): 28-1 – 28-9

[26] Baggs E M , Rees R M , Smith K A , Vinten A J A . Nitrous oxide emission from soils after incorporating crop residues. Soil Use and Management , 2000 , 16 ( 2 ): 82 – 87

[27] Chen G X , Huang G H , Huang B , Yu K W , Wu J , Xu H . Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from soil–plant systems. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems , 1997 , 49 ( 1 ): 41 – 45

[28] Shang Q Y , Yang X X , Gao C M , Wu P P , Liu J J , Xu Y C , Shen Q R , Zou J W , Guo S W . Net annual global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity in Chinese double rice-cropping systems: a 3-year field measurement in long-term fertilizer experiments. Global Change Biology , 2011 , 17 ( 6 ): 2196 – 2210

[29] Hang X N , Zhang X , Song C L , Jiang Y , Deng A X , He R Y , Lu M , Zhang W J . Differences in rice yield and CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions among mechanical planting methods with straw incorporation in Jianghuai area, China. Soil & Tillage Research , 2014 , 144 ( 4 ): 205 – 210

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31171509, 30871491), the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201103001), the National Key Technology R&D Program for the 12th Five-year Plan of China (2012BAD14B03).

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Heshui Xu, Dengyun Li, Bo Zhu, Yadong Yang, Chen Wang, Kai Zhang, Ying Jiang, and Zhaohai Zeng declare that they have no conflict of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2017. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)