ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1658353
This article is part of the Research TopicRegulatory Effects of Irrigation and Fertilization on Aboveground and Underground Parts of CropsView all 4 articles
Optimizing water and nitrogen management improves maize productivity by regulating root development in the cold semi-arid Songnen Plains of Northeast China
Provisionally accepted
- Guangxi University, Nanning, China
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Water constraints and excessive nitrogen (N) application hinder root development in spring maize in cold semi-arid regions (CSR), limiting growth and yield. In this study, we focused on the CSR where water scarcity and high fertilizer use are major challenges. Optimizing water-N interactions can enhance root distribution and nutrient uptake, offering a key strategy for improving crop productivity. This objective was to determine the optimal water-N management strategy under local climatic conditions and evaluate its effects on root physiology and yield performance of spring maize. A two-year field experiment (2020-2021) tested four N application rates (N0: 0 kg ha-1, N100: 100 kg ha-1, N200: 200kg ha-1, N300: 300 kg ha-1) and three soil moisture levels (S1: 40%, S2: 60%, S3: 80% field capacity). Water was managed by maintaining target soil moisture using TDR-based measurements and supplemental irrigation. Compared with S3-N300, S3-N200 increased plant height (7.89%), stalk thickness (10.48%), and spike position height (5.14%), while substantially boosting root antioxidant enzymes (7.72%), lowering reactive oxygen species (11.81%) and raising K+ (18.22%), Ca2+ (16.35%), Mg2+ (20.01%), and reduced Na+ (3.83%) levels. It also elevated Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), Gibberellins (GAs), and Zeatin + Zeatin Riboside (Z+ZR) by 45%, 43%, and 30%, respectively. Biomass accumulation rose in spike (11.98%), leaf (23.21%), stalk (16.63%), and grain (6.95%), resulting in 8.01% yield improvement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that water-N interactions explained 94% of the variation in yield, 89% in ion content, 94% in hormones, and 91% in ROS levels. These findings confirm that S3-N200 (80% field capacity + 200 kg N ha-1) treatment improved root function, stress resilience, and nutrient uptake, enhancing growth and yield, compared to conventional local practice (>250-300 Kg N ha-1) with no optimized water control. Optimizing water-N strategies in North China's CSR supports sustainable maize production and strengthens agricultural resilience under water-limited conditions.
Keywords: Maize, Enzymes, crop yield, Nitrogen, root development, Water stress
Received: 03 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chi, Muhammad, Ali, Shah Jahan, Yang and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Li Yang, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
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