Optimizing irrigation and nitrogen application strategies to improve sunflower yield and resource use efficiency in a cold and arid oasis region of Northwest China

In arid regions, water scarcity, land degradation and groundwater pollution caused by excessive fertilization are the main constraints to sustainable agricultural production. Optimizing irrigation and fertilizer management regime is an effective means of improving crop water and fertilizer productivity as well as reducing negative impacts on the ecosystem. In order to investigate the effects of different irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates on sunflower growth, yield, and water and N use efficiency, and to determine the optimal water and N management strategy, a two-year (2021 and 2022) field experiment with under-mulched drip irrigation was conducted in the Hexi Oasis area of Northwest China. The experiment design comprised three irrigation levels (W1, 55%-65% FC, where FC represents field water capacity; W2, 65%-75% FC; W3, 75%-85% FC) and three N application levels (N1, 120 kg ha-1; N2, 180 kg ha-1; N3, 240 kg ha-1), resulting in a total of nine treatments. The findings indicated that increasing irrigation and N application rates led to improvements in leaf area index (15.39%-66.14%), dry matter accumulation (11.43%-53.15%), water consumption (ET, 1.63%-42.90%) and sunflower yield (6.85%-36.42%), in comparison to the moderate water deficit and low N application (W1N1) treatment. However, excess water and N inputs did not produce greater yield gains and significantly decreased both water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP). Additionally, a multiple regression model was developed with ET and N application as explanatory variables and yield, WUE and NPFP as response variables. The results based on the regression model combined with spatial analysis showed that an ET range of 334.3-348.7 mm and N application rate of 160.9-175.3 kg ha-1 achieved an optimal balance between the multiple production objectives: yield, WUE and NPFP. Among the different irrigation and N management strategies we evaluated, we found that W2N2 (65%-75% FC and 180 kg N ha-1) was the most fruitful considering yield, resource use efficiency, etc. This result can serve as a theoretical reference for developing appropriate irrigation and N fertilization regimes for sunflower cultivation in the oasis agricultural area of northwest China.