Ecological Intensification Management of Maize in northeast ChinaAgronomic and Environment Response

Optimum field management practices need to be developed and improved to solve the challenge of increasing food production while retaining the ecological integrity of farming system underlying the goal of sustainable agriculture. In this study, the concept of ecological intensification (EI) was applied to a spring maize cropping system in Jilin province, China during 2009-2013. Results indicated that the average grain yield was 11.8 t/ha in the EI treatment; while the farmers’ practice (FP) treatment had an average of 11.4 t/ha grain yield across five seasons.