Paddy-upland rotation is an unavoidable cropping system for Asia to meet the increasing demand for food. The reduction in grain yields has increased the research interest on the soil properties of rice-based cropping systems. Paddy-upland rotation fields are unique from other wetland or upland soils, because they are associated with frequent cycling between wetting and drying under anaerobic and aerobic conditions; such rotations affect the soil C and N cycles, make the chemical speciation and biological effectiveness of soil nutrient elements varied with seasons, increase the diversity of soil organisms, and make the soil physical properties more difficult to analyze. Consequently, maintaining or improving soil quality at a desirable level has become a complicated issue. Therefore, fully understanding the soil characteristics of paddy-upland rotation is necessary for the sustainable development of the system. In this paper, we offer helpful insight into the effect of rice-upland combinations on the soil chemical, physical, and biological properties, which could provide guidance for reasonable cultivation management measures and contribute to the improvement of soil quality and crop yield.

The yield-increasing mechanism of an optimized nitrogen fertilizer application (OFA) in rice was reported in this work through a three-year test. Results showed that the number of branches and spikelets increased, panicle length, the diameter and vascular bundle number of panicle-neck internode improved with OFA. Under the condition of OFA, high effective leaf areas, especially for the flag and the second upper leaf areas, increased, the net photosynthetic rate of the upper three leaves promoted, so the photosynthetic productivity went up by a large margin; moreover, the content of soluble protein and chlorophyll of leaf also increased, and the content of soluble sugar and malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased, as a result in slowing down the senescence speed in leaves, and increasing the photosynthetic time. Gene expression level, including MOC1, LAX1, SP1, GS1;1, were up-regulated obviously in different panicle initiation stage under OFA condition, which conduced to the increase in the secondary branches and spikelets. So we concluded that the changes in organ formation and panicle structure, together with the responses in physiological and molecular made the photosynthetic area, rate and time all increased with OFA, which provided the matter basis for the big panicle development, consequently, got a higher yield.

The quantity and quality of tillers determine the yield of rice. In order to explore how optimized nitrogen fertilizer application (OFA) increases rice yield by affecting tiller growth, a pot experiment with three nitrogen treatments was performed on the basis of previous researches to investigate the growth and development of tillers. Results showed that under OFA, the emerging rate of secondary tillers and high leaf position tillers decreased, which increased with the number of primary tillers. The decrease of ineffective tillers increased the accumulation of biomass and nitrogen per tiller, which promoted the development of panicles. Compared with traditional nitrogen fertilizer application (TFA), the differentiated number of spikelets increased by 10.85%–21.70%, which led to the total number of filled spikelets increasing by 9.67%–18.95%, resulting in 9.6% increase in rice yield. Primary tillers, especially at the first, second, fifth, and sixth leaf positions, were the superior tillers in good quality, which made great contribution to rice yield and were significantly affected by nitrogen application. Making full use of the regulation effect of nitrogen on the quality of tillers will help to stabilize rice yield with less nitrogen input or increase rice yield without adding nitrogen input. Graphical abstract

Modern rice cultivation relies heavily upon inorganic nitrogen fertilization. Effective fertilizer management is key to sustainable agricultural development. Field and pot trials were conducted in 2014–2016, including a ¹⁵N-labeled urea pot experiment (2014) to investigate mechanism by which optimized nitrogen fertilizer application (OFA) increases nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE). Results showed that the applied nitrogen recovery efficiencies with OFA were 71.71%, 110.17%, and 51.38% higher than those obtained with traditional nitrogen fertilizer application (TFA) in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. These improvements are attributed mainly to the high recovery efficiency rates derived from spikelet-developing and spikelet-promoting fertilizer applications at the jointing stage and 15–20 d after jointing. Under OFA, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied at the early stages was half that used in TFA, which not only promoted the absorption of soil nitrogen, but also reduced nitrogen loss to the environment, as the NUE of basal and tillering fertilizer was only about 22%. Nitrogen applied during the panicle differentiation stage increased the expression of ATM1;1, a NH₄⁺ transporter in roots. This effect significantly improved the uptake of nitrogen derived from fertilizer from jointing to heading stage. Up-regulation of the expression and activity of GS and GOGAT at the panicle differentiation and grain-filling stages promoted nitrogen translocation from vegetative organs to reproductive organs. The uptake of nitrogen derived from fertilizer increased from 22.51% in TFA to 35.58% in OFA. Nevertheless, rice absorbs most of the nitrogen it requires from the soil. The OFA treatment could effectively utilize the environmental compensation effect, promote the absorption and transport of nitrogen, and ultimately lead to improvement in NUE. Future research should aim to understand the soil nitrogen supply capacity in order to apply nitrogenous fertilizer in such a way that it sustains the nitrogen balance.