Effects of mild alternate wetting and drying irrigation and rice straw application on N2O emissions in rice cultivation

The shortage of water resources and the decline in soil organic matter (SOM) are critical limiting factors affecting the improvement in rice productivity, while alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation and recycling application of rice straw (S) are considered favorable mitigation measures. However, the impact of such measures on rice yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, needs to be further clarified to ensure that agronomic practices save water, conserve soil, and reduce GHG emissions. Therefore, we explored the effects of mild AWD irrigation combined with on-site rice straw recycling on N2O emissions and rice yield through rice pot experiments. This experiment included 2 irrigation methods (continuous flooding (CF) irrigation and mild AWD irrigation), 2 nitrogen (N) application levels (0 and 225 kg N ha(-1)) and 2 rice straw return levels (0 and 9000 kg ha-1), for a total of 10 treatments, and each treatment had 3 replicates. The N-15-urea and N-15-S were added to the soil. The results showed that N2O emissions were primarily affected by urea application and irrigation methods, with urea application being most important. Compared with CF irrigation, mild AWD irrigation increased cumulative N2O emissions, with an average increase of 28.8 %. In addition, adding rice straw to mild AWD irrigation further stimulated N2O emissions by 18.1 %. Under the condition of urea application, compared with CF irrigation, mild AWD irrigation increased the yield-scaled N2O emissions by 17.9 %, and the addition of rice straw further promoted the yield-scaled N2O emissions under mild AWD irrigation by 17.4 % but reduced the global warming potential (GWP) (methane (CH4) + N2O) by 62.9 %. Under the condition of urea application, compared with CF irrigation, mild AWD irrigation reduced the uptake of soil-derived N and aboveground biomass of rice but did not reduce rice yield. Therefore, mild AWD irrigation combined with rice straw return may be a promising agronomic method to maintain rice yield, reduce GHGs, and protect or improve soil fertility.