Regulating CH4, N2O, and NO emissions from an alkaline paddy field under rice-wheat rotation with controlled release N fertilizer.

Controlled release fertilizer (CRF) has been shown to increase crop yield and N use efficiency (NUE) compared with traditional chemical fertilizer (TF). However, few studies examined the effects of CRF on CH4, N2O, and NO emissions simultaneously in alkaline paddy fields under rice-wheat rotation. In the present study, we conducted a 2-year field experiment to compare the effects of different CRF application strategies on these gas emissions with those of TF and explored the effects of CRF on global warming potential (GWP), crop yields, and greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI). Results showed that CRF can reduce 0.98-14.3%, 13.3-21.1%, and 8.22-16.3% of CH4, N2O, and NO emissions, respectively, in the studied alkaline paddy field. CRF reduce CH4 emission probably by regulating soil NH4+ concentration. CRF reduce N2O and NO emissions probably by regulating inorganic N content in the studied alkaline paddy soil. CRF had the same effect on annual crop yield as TF, especially when CRF was applied twice in each season and had the same N application rate as TF. Annual crop yields and the agronomic efficiency of N (AEN) increased by 8.24% and 21.6%, respectively. On the average of the two rice-wheat rotation cycles, GHGI significantly decreased by up to 14.1% after the application of CRF as relative to that after the application of TF (P < 0.05). These results suggest that CRF is an environment-friendly N fertilization strategy for mitigating GWP and ensuring high crop yield in an alkaline paddy field under rice-wheat rotation.