Objective The study aimed to further clarify the key fertilization measures for developing high-quality tobacco leaves with low tar-nicotine ratio in Jiangxi and similar production areas.

Method A field experiment was carried out with Yunyan 87 as the test variety to study the effects of nitrogen application rates and different base fertilizer application methods on the yield and quality, conventional flue gas indexes and sensory evaluation quality of flue-cured tobacco.

Result The basal fertilizer application methods had extremely significant effects on maximum length and width of lower leaf of flue-cured tobacco, while the nitrogen application rates had extremely significant effects on plant height, stem girth, pitch, maximum length and width of lower leaf, maximum length and width of middle leaf and maximum width of upper leaf. At the same nitrogen application level, compared with hole application, the yield and output value of basal fertilizer drill application decreased by 4.9%-6.5% and 4.4%-8.4%, respectively, and the average price, the proportion of superior tobacco and the proportion of middle tobacco increased. With the decrease of nitrogen application, the increasing range gradually decreased. Compared with conventional fertilization, nicotine contents in middle and upper tobaccos were increased by 1.71% and 1.73%, and total nitrogen contents were increased by 0.26% and 0.31%, respectively. Drill application of basal fertilizer was more conducive to the increase of nicotine content. The ratios of tar to nicotine in the middle and upper leaves of flue-cured tobacco were 8.1-9.2 and 6.2-6.9, respectively, which were significantly lower than those (12.0 and 8.3) of conventional fertilization, and the sensory evaluation quality of flue-cured tobacco reached the "general" grade.

Conclusion Under the cultivation measures of "topping early, leaving less leaves and harvesting late", the drill application of basal fertilizer with an amount of nitrogen of 120 kg/hm² is more conductive to the development of high-quality tobacco leaves with low tar-nicotine ratio in Jiangxi and similar production areas.