Anhui Sierte Fertilizer Industry Co., Ltd.

Here, we report on a three-year field experiment that used an integrated soil - crop system management (ISSM) approach, to improve crop (pepper) yield and to cut carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) footprints of greenhouse vegetable production in the Yangtze River Basin, China.Treatments included farmers practice for nutrient inputs, soil and crop management; soil remediation, soil management, including control of soil borne pathogens and reduced nutrient input by organic resources; and ISSM, which includes combined optimization of factors, including soil remediation, reduced planting d., and improved timing of inorganic fertilizer applications.Measurements of pepper yield and N concns, N offtake, and C and N footprints were calculated using life cycle assessment.Reactive nitrogen (Nr) losses from FP, SR, and ISSM treatments were 82, 52 and 59 kg N ha-1, resp.Greenhouse gas emissions of FP, SR, and ISSM treatments were 7061, 5279 and 5728 kg CO2-equiv ha-1, resp.N and C footprints of the ISSM treatment were significantly lower than the FP treatment by 39% and 30%, resp., as a result of both a 46% reduction in N inputs (especially an 80% reduction in organic N inputs) and a greater yield.Yield increase contributed to 26% and 37% the reduction of N and C footprints in ISSM treatment, resp.ISSM strategy can produce greater pepper yields with lower environmental costs, and can contribute to sustainable greenhouse vegetable production, and that SR, while being single factor strategy, is a useful first step towards ISSM.

Excessive fertilizer input, low nutrient use efficiency, soil quality, and environmental degradation hinder greenhouse vegetable production. Integrated agronomic strategies of soil, crop, and nutrient management are needed to sharply improve the vegetable yield and simultaneously maintain sustainable production. A three-season field experiment was conducted from 2015 to 2018, aiming to evaluate the effect of integrated soil–crop system management (ISSM) on the agronomy, environment, and economy of greenhouse vegetable systems in the Yangtze River Basin, China. Three treatments were included in the experiment: (1) farmers’ current practice (FP), based on a local farmers’ survey; (2) soil remediation treatment (SR), the application of soil conditioner and compost fertilizer instead of chicken manure; (3) ISSM, a combination of soil conditioner, reducing plant density, and using formula fertilizer as well as increasing the fertilization times. The results indicated that ISSM (47.7 Mg ha−1) improved the pepper yield by 17% relative to farmers’ current practice (FP, 40.7 Mg ha−1). Soil remediation (SR), as a single approach, mainly made a contribution to improving the yield (by 6.9%) and nutrient use efficiency while reducing apparent nitrogen (N) losses. Higher yields were mainly attributed to increasing the fruit number per plant. On average, apparent N losses were reduced by 245 kg N ha−1 per season for ISSM compared to FP. In addition, higher net profits were obtained under SR and ISSM relative to FP. Overall, both SR and ISSM have advantages for the agronomy, environment, and economy in greenhouse vegetable production, but ISSM would be the optimal choice to achieve higher yields with lower environmental impacts.