The annual nitrogen (N) budget and groundwater nitrate-N concentrations were studied in the field in three major intensive cropping systems in Shandong province, north China. In the greenhouse vegetable systems the annual N inputs from fertilizers, manures and irrigation water were 1358, 1881 and 402 kg N ha−1 on average, representing 2.5, 37.5 and 83.8 times the corresponding values in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–maize (Zea mays L.) rotations and 2.1, 10.4 and 68.2 times the values in apple (Malus pumila Mill.) orchards. The N surplus values were 349, 3327 and 746 kg N ha−1, with residual soil nitrate-N after harvest amounting to 221–275, 1173 and 613 kg N ha−1 in the top 90 cm of the soil profile and 213–242, 1032 and 976 kg N ha−1 at 90–180 cm depth in wheat–maize, greenhouse vegetable and orchard systems, respectively. Nitrate leaching was evident in all three cropping systems and the groundwater in shallow wells (<15 m depth) was heavily contaminated in the greenhouse vegetable production area, where total N inputs were much higher than crop requirements and the excessive fertilizer N inputs were only about 40% of total N inputs.

Nitrogen balance and groundwater nitrate contamination: Comparison among three intensive cropping systems on the North China Plain