Responses of Winter Wheat Yield and Water Use Efficiency to Irrigation Frequency and Planting Pattern

A suitable planting pattern and irrigation strategy are essential for optimizing winter wheat yield and water use efficiency (WUE). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of planting pattern and irrigation frequency on grain yield and WUE of winter wheat. During the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 winter wheat growing seasons in the North China Plain, the effects of planting patterns and irrigation frequencies were determined on tiller number, grain yield, and WUE. The two planting patterns tested were wide-precision and conventional-cultivation. Each planting pattern had three irrigation regimes: irrigation (120 mm) at the jointing stage; irrigation (60 mm) at both the jointing and heading stages; and irrigation (40 mm) at the jointing, heading, and milking stages. In our study, tiller number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Additionally, the highest grain yields and WUE were observed when irrigation was applied at the jointing stage (120 mm) or at the jointing and heading stages (60 mm each) in the wide-precision planting pattern. These results could be attributed to higher tiller numbers as well as reduced water consumption due to reduced irrigation frequency. In both growing seasons, applying 60 mm of water at jointing and heading stages resulted in the highest grain yield among the treatments. Based on our results, for winter wheat production in semi-humid regions, we recommend a wide-precision planting pattern with irrigation (60 mm) at both the jointing and heading stages.

[1]  B. Sharma,et al.  Wheat root growth, grain yield and water uptake as influenced by soil water regime and depth of nitrogen placement in a loamy sand soil , 1983 .

[2]  H. Zhang,et al.  Water-yield relations and water-use efficiency of winter wheat in the North China Plain , 1999, Irrigation Science.

[3]  Lang Kun,et al.  Effects of irrigation and wide-precision planting on water use, radiation interception, and grain yield of winter wheat in the North China Plain , 2013 .

[4]  Aiwang Duan,et al.  Effects of different planting patterns on water use and yield performance of winter wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai plain of China , 2007 .

[5]  朗坤 Lang Kun,et al.  Effect of delayed irrigation at jointing stage on canopy temperature and leaf water use efficiency of winter wheat in wide-precision planting pattern , 2015 .

[6]  Yanjun Shen,et al.  Effect of precipitation change on water balance and WUE of the winter wheat-summer maize rotation in the North China Plain , 2010 .

[7]  P. Bandyopadhyay,et al.  Water balance and crop coefficients of summer-grown peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in a humid tropical region of India , 2005, Irrigation Science.

[8]  Zhen-lin Wang,et al.  Exogenous hormonal application improves grain yield of wheat by optimizing tiller productivity , 2014 .

[9]  Shaozhong Kang,et al.  Alternate Furrow Irrigation A Practical Way to Improve Grape Quality and Water Use Efficiency in Arid Northwest China , 2013 .

[10]  Xiying Zhang,et al.  Improved Water Use Efficiency Associated with Cultivars and Agronomic Management in the North China Plain , 2005 .

[11]  Quanru Liu,et al.  Dry matter, grain yield, and evapotranspiration of winter wheat under deficit irrigation in North China Plain , 2013 .

[12]  P. Eberbach,et al.  Crop row spacing and its influence on the partitioning of evapotranspiration by winter-grown wheat in Northern Syria , 2004, Plant and Soil.

[13]  R. Quiroz,et al.  Effect of partial root-zone drying irrigation timing on potato tuber yield and water use efficiency , 2013 .

[14]  Jiwang Zhang,et al.  Root growth, available soil water, and water-use efficiency of winter wheat under different irrigation regimes applied at different growth stages in North China , 2010 .

[15]  Xuexia Chen,et al.  Low contribution of photosynthesis and water-use efficiency to improvement of grain yield in Chinese wheat , 2015, Photosynthetica.

[16]  Shaozhong Kang,et al.  Effects of partial root-zone irrigation on the nitrogen absorption and utilization of maize , 2009 .

[17]  S. Singh,et al.  INFLUENCE OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE,PERMANENT RAISED BED PLANTING AND RESIDUE MANAGEMENT ON SOIL QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MAIZE-WHEAT SYSTEM IN WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH , 2012 .

[18]  Quanru Liu,et al.  Winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in wide-precision planting pattern under deficit irrigation in North China Plain , 2015 .

[19]  S. Roy,et al.  Production and Survival of Wheat Tillers in Relation to Plant Growth and Development , 1985 .

[20]  Yongqiang Zhang,et al.  Determination of daily evaporation and evapotranspiration of winter wheat and maize by large-scale weighing lysimeter and micro-lysimeter , 2002 .

[21]  J. Son,et al.  Transpiration, growth, and water use efficiency of paprika plants (Capsicum annuum L.) as affected by irrigation frequency , 2012, Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology.

[22]  V. H. Durán-Zuazo,et al.  Benefits of low-frequency irrigation in citrus orchards , 2011, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

[23]  Liang Shi-qing.  Review of characteristics of wheat grain fill and factors to influence it , 2003 .