ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Appropriate Reduction of Nitrogen Fertilization Enhances Soil Quality without Compromising Fruit Yield and Quality in a Bayberry Orchard
Yichao Chen 1,2,3
,
 
,
 
Fei Li 1,2,3
,
 
Yaojun Chang 1,2,3
,
 
Hongao Yu 1,2,3
,
 
Jing Zhang 1,2,3
,
 
Zhiliang Xie 1,2,3
 
 
 
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1
Wenzhou Vocational College of Science and Technology, Wenzhou, 325006, China
 
2
Wencheng Institute of Modern Agriculture and Healthcare Industry, Wenzhou, 325006, China
 
3
Southern Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Crop Breeding, Wenzhou, 325006, China
 
4
College of Environment and Resources, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
 
These authors had equal contribution to this work
 
 
Submission date: 2025-02-13
 
 
Final revision date: 2025-03-31
 
 
Acceptance date: 2025-04-22
 
 
Online publication date: 2025-06-18
 
 
Corresponding author
Zhiliang Xie   

Wenzhou Vocational College of Science and Technology, Wenzhou, 325006, China
 
 
 
KEYWORDS
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ABSTRACT
The reduction of chemical fertilizers is a management practice gradually being adopted in long-term fertilized soils. However, the effects of chemical fertilizer reduction on soil health have remained underexplored in orchard systems. Through a two-year field experiment, we investigated how the reduction of chemical fertilizers affects soil chemical properties, the soil quality index (SQI), and fruit yield and quality. The results indicated that chemical fertilizer reduction significantly increased soil pH and organic matter, while it decreased the available nitrogen and phosphorus contents in 2022 and 2023. The reduction of chemical P fertilizer enhanced the availability of Si, S, Mn, and Cu, while it had no impact on the availability of Mo, Fe, and B. Chemical fertilization reduction did not decrease fruit yield and quality, except for the 1/3N treatment. Moreover, the SQI for the N and 2/3N treatments was higher. The random forest model demonstrated that SQI and soil pH were the most important driving factors regulating fruit yield in response to chemical fertilizer reduction practices. Our study suggests that the appropriate reduction of chemical fertilizers can enhance SQI and the availability of micronutrients without decreasing fruit yield and quality, which may have direct implications for soil health.
eISSN:2083-5906
ISSN:1230-1485
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