An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of cultivation methods and N rates on N accumulation, distribution and utilization efficiency of winter wheat on manual loessial soils under the winter wheat-summer maize cropping rotation system. The treatments comprised 4 different cultivation methods, i.e. control (C), supplementary irrigation (SI), straw mulching (SM) and furrow planting (FP), and 3 N rates, i.e. 0, 120 and 240 kg/hm 2. Compared with the other 3 cultivation methods, the N residue in leaf and stem of wheat after harvesting was lower in the SI cultivation method, so was the rate of N residue to total N accumulation in the crop. However, the rate of N residue in grain to the N accumulated in shoot was increased. As the application rates of N increased, the N accumulation in leaf, stem, glume and rachis, and grain of wheat was significantly increased. When the N application was increased from 120 to 240 kg/hm 2, the N accumulation in wheat leaf, stem, and glume and rachis was increased after harvesting. However, the N accumulation in grain did not increased significantly. The application of N did not show significant effect on the distribution of N in the different organs of wheat. As the application rates of N increased, the N recovery, agronomic efficiency and physiological efficiency decreased. Compared with the other cultivation methods, the N recovery, agronomic efficiency and physiological efficiency of the SI pattern were higher during the 2 continuous years; the changes in the N efficiency indices of the other 3 cultivation methods varied in different years.
