ISSN 2167-0447
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN 2167-0447 Vol. 6 (4), pp. 1011-1015, April, 2016. © International Scholars Journals
Short Communication
Response of crop yields to magnesium fertilization: A meta-analysis in China
Yue-Hong Wang1, Yu-Jia Li1, Xin-Hua He1, 2, Md. Rezaul Karim3, Xiao-Jun Shi1, 4, De-Ti Xie1and Yue-Qiang Zhang1, 4*
1College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
2University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
3EXIM Bank Agricultural University, Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
4National Monitoring Stations of Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Efficiency on Purple Soil, Chongqing 400716, China.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 21 February, 2016
Abstract
Crop magnesium (Mg) deficiency is widespread in global agriculture, but limited assessment is available on how crop yield could respond to Mg fertilization at national or regional scale. This meta-analysis from 196 paired datasets evaluated the different yield responses of 49 crop species under Mg fertilization at the southern and northern region of China where 50% soils were Mg-deficient. The results showed that under Mg fertilization the crop yields were averagely increased by 19.2%, 11.3% and 16.6% in southern China, northern China and the whole country, respectively. Meanwhile, significantly greater yield increment of crop types under Mg fertilization ranked as vegetables (20.1%) ≈ fruits (19.6%) >cereals (6.5%). In conclusion, Mg fertilization is recommended to enhance yield and quality of fruit and vegetable crops in subtropical and tropical China and other similar countries.
Key words: Soil exchangeable magnesium, deficiency, yield increment, soil pH.