Yield and Nitrogen Uptake of Bowl‐Seedling Machine‐Transplanted Rice with Slow‐Release Nitrogen Fertilizer

Slow‐release N fertilizer is considered an effective method of improving the N use efficiency (NUE). To investigate yield and N uptake of bowl‐seedling machine‐transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) with slow‐release N fertilizer, three fertilizers treatments including slow‐release fertilizer blend (SFB), polymer‐coated urea (PCU), and sulfur‐coated urea (SCU), and two fertilizer methods including single basal application (B), and combined with tillering urea (BT) were performed from 2013 to 2014 in Jiangsu Yellow Sea Farm of China. Conventional split fertilization (CK) and zero N treatment (N0) are controls. Yield and NUE improvement was found in PCU under both fertilization methods in both years when compared with the CK. The SCU only showed a slight yield increase in 2014, while SFB increased the yields and NUEs under both fertilization methods in both years. The BT‐SFB got the highest yields as 13.6 and 13.3 Mg ha−1, as well as increased 7.9 and 10.8% compared with CK in both years, respectively. The recovery efficiency of N was also the highest for BT‐SFB with 52.7 and 38.5% for 2013 and 2014, respectively. The results indicated that SFB can meet the rice N demand and improve the yield and NUE, and the combined application of tillering urea and SFB was better than that of single basal application with SFB.