@article{icrisat12008,
           month = {September},
            year = {2022},
           title = {Response of the Fate of In-Season Fertilizer Nitrogen to Plastic Mulching in Rainfed Maize Croplands of the Loess Plateau},
          volume = {11(18)},
          number = {2343},
           pages = {1--11},
          author = {X Zhang and B Hu and S Wang and W Dong and S Gopalakrishnan and T Jin and E Liu},
       publisher = {MDPI},
         journal = {Plants (TSI)},
             url = {http://oar.icrisat.org/12008/},
        abstract = {As plastic mulching is widely used for maize production on Loess Plateau, study of the fate of fertilizer nitrogen (N) in rain-fed croplands is of great significance. Field experiments were conducted during 2015?2016 at a typical dry-land farm on the Loess Plateau, China. The stable isotope tracer technique was applied to analyze the effects of plastic mulching on the maize crop yield, N content in the grain, and mechanism of N uptake and utilization in maize plants with plastic mulch (PM) and without plastic mulch (CK) on the Loess Plateau. Maize yield, aboveground dry matter, grain N concentration, and N uptake in aboveground biomass for PM significantly increased, in addition to fertilizer nitrogen recovery and nitrogen production efficiency. Compared to CK, PM improved the total N uptake from the soil in the aboveground biomass by 16.39 and 27.75 kg ha?1 and fertilizer nitrogen recovery by 10.89 and 22.02 kg ha?1, respectively. Furthermore, PM increased in-season fertilizer N retention in the soil by 11.9?24.8 kg ha?1, and the uncountable fertilizer N decreased by approximately 33.8 kg ha?1 on average. In conclusion, PM simultaneously improved the maize yield and N utilization, which provides a scientific basis for nitrogen management in maize croplands.},
        keywords = {Plastic mulch, Fertilizer nitrogen recovery, Soil nitrogen, Nitrogen concentration in organ}
}