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Winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in wide-precision planting pattern under deficit irrigation in North China Plain
Agricultural Water Management 153 (2015) 71–76
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Agricultural Water Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat
Winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in wide-precision planting pattern under deficit irrigation in North China Plain Quanqi Li ∗ , Chengyue Bian, Xinhui Liu, Changjian Ma, Quanru Liu College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
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Article history: Received 13 October 2014 Accepted 5 February 2015 Available online 2 March 2015 Keywords: Tillers number Yield compositions Evapotranspiration Growing season Winter wheat
a b s t r a c t Water resources in North China Plain are limited; however, the Plain is the most important winter wheat production area in China and winter wheat should be irrigated to get high grain yield. To better understand the potential for improving grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE), treatment effects of planting patterns and deficit irrigation were quantified on tillers number, grain yield, evapotranspiration, and WUE during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. The two planting patterns were wide-precision planting pattern (sowing width was 6–8 cm) and conventional-cultivation planting pattern (sowing width was 3–5 cm). Each planting pattern had three irrigation regimes, i.e., no irrigation, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages. Results indicated that whether irrigated or not, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern; accounting for spike numbers in wide-precision planting pattern being significantly higher than in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Grain yield was increased when irrigation amount increased, and was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Significant interaction between planting patterns and deficit irrigation regimes occurred in both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 grain yields. Under the same deficit irrigation regime, there were not significant differences in the evapotranspiration between the two planting patterns. In the both growing seasons, irrespective of irrigation treatment, WUE was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Results support the application of wide-precision planting pattern in combination with deficit irrigation for maximizing winter wheat production in North China Plain. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction North China Plain, covering an area of 3.2 × 105 km2 , supplies more than 50% of the winter wheat and 33% of the summer maize produced in China (Zhang et al., 2010). Due to climatic conditions, the winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system is well adopted to this region. During the winter wheat growing season, annual rainfall is usually less than 200 mm, and evapotranspiration in winter wheat is more than 400 mm (Li et al., 2012; Fulvia et al., 2012); thus, irrigation is needed to achieve high and stable winter wheat production. However, the summer maize growing season coincides with the rainy season in North China Plain in reducing the need for irrigation in normal years. In contrast, the winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system in North
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 538 8249656. E-mail address: [email protected] (Q. Li). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.02.004 0378-3774/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
China Plain usually requires irrigation during the winter wheat growing seasons. Water resources are limited in North China Plain, and nearly all usable surface water resources are restricted for urban and metropolitan use (Hu et al., 2010); hence, crop production relies mainly on groundwater irrigation. As a result, groundwater tables are dropping approximately 1.5 m per year, which is threatening the sustainability of agricultural production in this area (Fang et al., 2010). It is therefore essential to optimize reasonable irrigation strategies to increase water use efficiency (WUE) in order to develop sustainable crop production in the Plain. Current evidence suggests that a deficit irrigation strategy could be the best option for increasing crop WUE, and is an important tool in reducing irrigation water demands (Anabela et al., 2010; Neal et al., 2012). Deficit irrigation affects crop grain yields significantly. Hamid et al. (2012) indicated that with deficit irrigation, approximately 22% of irrigation water may be saved without significant loss in wheat grain yield. Similar results were observed by Shaughnessy
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et al. (2012). However, many researchers suggested that crop grain yields could be reduced significantly under deficit irrigation conditions (Adelian et al., 2012; Olanike and Chandra, 2014; Steven and Stewart, 2014). Therefore, achieving the correct balance of deficit irrigation and grain yield is fundamental to sustained cropping in North China Plain. In recent years, many researchers suggested that planting patterns could improve crops grain yield and WUE. In North India, bed planting pattern could significantly increase both winter wheat and summer maize grain yield and WUE (Naresh et al., 2012). In North China, under both dryland and deficit irrigation conditions, furrow planting pattern significantly increased winter wheat grain yield and WUE (Li et al., 2012). In furrow planting pattern, partial root zone irrigation significantly affected the growth and WUE of summer maize (Hu et al., 2009), potato (Yactayo et al., 2013), tomato (Eugenio et al., 2012), and grape (Du et al., 2013). Therefore, improving crop planting patterns is an option to increase crops grain yield and WUE. In order to enhance winter wheat grain yield in North China Plain, Shandong Agricultural University introduced a wideprecision planting pattern. The new planting pattern changes the traditional sowing width from 3–5 cm to 6–8 cm and altering of seed distribution by separating single grains from each other instead of planting all the seeds in a line, while using the same seeding rate. In 2010, the new planting pattern achieved the highest winter wheat grain yields (11.9 × 103 kg hm−2 ) in a large area in North China Plain (Yu et al., 2010). Compared with conventional-cultivation planting pattern, the photosynthetically active radiation capture ratios at both 40 and 60 cm above the ground surface in wide-precision planting pattern were much higher (Zhao et al., 2013). Since net radiation is the main driving force of evapotranspiration (Irmak et al., 2011), it is hypothesized that the evapotranspiration in wide-precision planting pattern maybe different from that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern, resulting in different grain yield and WUE. Tillers number is a crucial process in determining winter wheat grain yield. It is the main determinant of spike numbers at harvest, the component most closely correlated with grain yield (Roy and Gallagher, 1985). Therefore, objectives of this study were to determine (i) the effect of deficit irrigation and wide-precision planting pattern on winter wheat tillers number at different growth stages, (ii) grain yield and yield compositions, and (iii) evapotranspiration and WUE. Addressing these questions could provide a theoretical basis and practical support for development of an efficient highyielding and water-saving planting pattern in North China Plain.
2. Materials and methods 2.1. Experimental site The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Station of Shandong Agricultural University (36◦ 10 19 N, 117◦ 9 03 E), in North China Plain. Agriculture in this area is intensified by a winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system. In this region, the mean rainfall is 697 mm, of which approximately 454 mm falls in summer maize growing season. The experiment was conducted in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. Each experimental plot is 3.0 m × 3.0 m in size with a light loamy soil and concrete slabs placed around the plots to prevent the lateral flow of soil water. The levels of rapidly available phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium in 0–20 cm soil layer were 15.2, 65.2, and 81.8 mg kg−1 , respectively. At the time of sowing, 26.1 g m−2 of diammonium hydrogen phosphate, 21.0 g m−2 of potassium sulfate, and 38.4 g m−2 of urea were applied to the soil, and 38.4 g m−2 of urea was added at jointing stage. The winter wheat was planted
Table 1 Treatments with the timing, growth stage, and irrigation amount for winter wheat in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012. Growing seasons
Treatments
Timing (growth stage)/irrigation amount (mm)
2010–2011
C0 C1 C2
0 April 1 (jointing)/60 April 1 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60 0 April 1 (jointing)/60 April 1 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60
W0 W1 W2 2011–2012
C0 C1 C2 W0 W1 W2
0 April 5 (jointing)/60 April 5 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60 0 April 5 (jointing)/60 April 5 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60
W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and traditional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing season, respectively.
at a density of 444.0 plants m−2 on October 6, 2010 and October 8, 2011. Thinning was done by hand 5 days after emergence to obtain the final population density of 222.0 plants m−2 . Winter wheat was harvested on June 13, 2011 and June 9, 2012, respectively. The variety used for the experiment was “Jimai 22”, which is widely planted in North China Plain. 2.2. Experimental design The experiment adopted a split plot design arranged in randomized blocks with three replications. Main plots were planting patterns, including wide-precision planting pattern (W) and conventional-cultivation planting pattern (C). Subplots consisted of three different irrigation regimes: no irrigation at anytime in winter wheat growing season (I0), irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage (I1), and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages (I2). The winter wheat jointing and heading stages were on April 1 and May 3, 2011, and April 5 and May 3, 2012, respectively. Treatments with the irrigation timing and amount for winter wheat in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 are presented in Table 1. The line spacing in both planting patterns was 30.0 cm, and the sowing widths in wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern were 6.0–8.0 and 3.0–5.0 cm, respectively. Both planting patterns used the same seeding rate. Water was supplied to the plots from a pump outlet by using plastic pipes, and a flow meter was used to measure the irrigated water amount. 2.3. Measurements 2.3.1. Tillers number The tillers number was estimated at jointing and flowering stages in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. At these stages, 0.6 m × 0.4 m rectangles were placed on the field and the plants inside rectangles were counted to determine the tillers numbers per m2 . 2.3.2. Soil moisture content The volumetric soil water content of the cores obtained at every 10.0 cm down to 120.0 cm was measured by a CNC503D neutron moisture meter (Super Energy. Nuclear Technology Ltd., Beijing, China). The soil moisture content of the top 20.0 cm soil layer was measured by oven-drying method. Measurements were performed
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at approximately 7-day intervals. Additional measurements were performed before and after irrigation or rainfall events. 2.3.3. Evapotranspiration Winter wheat evapotranspiration was calculated using the following equation (Li et al., 2012): ET = I + P − R − D − SW
(1)
where ET (mm) is the evapotranspiration, I (mm) is the irrigation water amount, P (mm) is rainfall, which was measured from the weather station at the site by using a standard rain gauge, R (mm) is the surface runoff, which was assumed as not significant since concrete slabs were placed around each plot, D (mm) is the downward flux below the crop root zone, which was ignored since soil moisture measurements indicated that drainage at the sites were negligible, and SW (mm) is the change in water storage in the soil profile exploited by crop roots. 2.3.4. Grain yield and yield composition When the winter wheat had reached maturity, 1.5-m stretches of 2 rows were selected at random in each experimental plot to measure the spike numbers, 1000-kernel weight, and grain yield. The plants were harvested manually and air-dried. Additional 20 plants were harvested to determine the kernel numbers per spike. 2.3.5. Water use efficiency Water use efficiency (WUE) was defined as follows (Sadras and Lawson, 2013): WUE =
Y ET
(2)
where Y (kg m−2 ) is the winter wheat grain yield, and ET (mm) is the evapotranspiration in the whole winter wheat growing seasons derived from Eq. (1). 2.3.6. Transpiration rate The transpiration rate was measured in flag leaves from 9:00 to 11:00 on May 13, 2011 and 9:00 to 11:00 on May 9, 2012 by Li-6400 portable photosynthesis system (Li-cor, USA), and the artificial light sources was 1500 mol m−2 s−1 . 2.4. Statistical analysis The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed at ˛ = 0.05 level of significance to determine if significant differences existed among treatments means. The multiple comparisons were done for significant effects with the LSD test at ˛ = 0.05. The differences between the treatments were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. 3. Results 3.1. Rainfall In 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, rainfall totals were 211.2 and 221.8 mm, respectively (Table 2), which were less than the average seasonal rainfall (242.6 mm) by 31.4 and 20.8 mm, respectively. In the 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, rainfall occurred mainly from April to June, accounting for 85.9% of the total annual rainfall. By contrast, in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, rainfall occurred mainly from October to March, and the rainfall during this period accounted for 69.9% of the total annual rainfall.
Fig. 1. Winter wheat tillers number in 2010–2011 (I) and 2011–2012 (II) winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and traditional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing season, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
3.2. Tillers number Both planting patterns and irrigation had significant effect on winter wheat tillers number (Fig. 1). In wide-precision planting pattern, after irrigated 60.0 mm at jointing stage, the tillers number was significantly improved compared to no irrigation; however, in conventional-cultivation planting pattern, irrigation at jointing stage did not have statistically different effect on tillers number compared to no irrigation. Hence, at jointing stage, under irrigated conditions, the tillers number was much higher in the wideprecision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. At flowering stage, in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, the tillers number increased with irrigation amount increased. However, in the both growing seasons, whether irrigated or not, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. The differences in tillers number would affect winter wheat yield compositions greatly. 3.3. Yield compositions and grain yield In the both growing seasons, spike numbers were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and irrigated 60 mm each at jointing and heading stages could significantly enhance spike numbers (Table 3). Compared with no irrigation at anytime during the winter wheat growing season, in 2010–2011 winter
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Table 2 Rainfall in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons (mm). Growing seasons
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010–2011 2011–2012
3.0a 13.4
0.0 99.2
0.2 14.7
0.0 1.8
24.0 0.1
2.6 25.9
10.4 43.7
132.0 7.0
39.0b 16.0
211.2 221.8
a b
Rainfall in October was the mean monthly from sown day to Oct 31. Rainfall in June was the mean monthly from June 1 to harvested day.
wheat growing season, 1000-kernle weight in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages was significantly increased. However, kernel numbers per spike was significantly decreased; in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, both 1000-kernel weight and kernel numbers per spike in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages were not significant differences. Grain yields were significantly affected by both planting patterns and deficit irrigation regimes. Grain yields were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern by 56.5 g m−2 in 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, and by 21.1 g m−2 in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, respectively, owing mainly to the changes in yield compositions and a significant increase in spike numbers during the both growing seasons. Grain yields also increased as the irrigation amount increased. Compared with no irrigation at anytime during the winter wheat growing season, the grain yield in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages was significantly higher by 59.1 g m−2 in 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, and by 64.1 g m−2 in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season. These differences were attributed to a significant increase in spike numbers. Significant interaction between planting patterns and irrigation regimes occurred in both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 grain yields and spike numbers. The wide-precision planting pattern always resulted in the highest grain yield in this experiment; thus, it has the potential to significantly increase winter wheat grain yield under different irrigation regimes.
3.4. Evapotranspiration In 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, evapotranspiration significantly increased with increased irrigation amount (Fig. 2); however, under the same irrigation conditions, there were not significant differences in the evapotranspiration between the two planting patterns.
3.5. Water use efficiency In 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, neither wideprecision planting pattern nor conventional-cultivation planting pattern produced significant differences in WUE between no irrigation and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage (Fig. 3). However, under the treatment of irrigating 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stage, WUE in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern was significantly decreased as compared to no irrigation and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage. In 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, the wide-precision planting pattern produced no significant difference in WUE between irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage; however, both had significantly lower WUE than that in no irrigation. In conventional-cultivation planting pattern, when irrigation amount increased, WUE was significantly decreased. In both growing seasons, both irrigated and no irrigation treatments
Table 3 Grain yield and yield compositions in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. Treatments 2010–2011 By planting patterns W C P value By irrigation I0 I1 I2 P value Interaction Planting pattern × irrigation 2011–2012 By planting patterns W C P value By irrigation I0 I1 I2 P value Interaction Planting pattern × irrigation
Spike number (spike m−2 )
Kernel numbers per spike (kernel spike−1 )
1000-kernel weight (g)
Grain yield (g m−2 )
732.1a 669.4b 0.0001
30.2a 29.2a 0.6295
47.0a 47.6a 0.8329
898.1a 841.6b 0.0001
703.3ab 666.5b 732.4a 0.0001
29.9b 31.2a 28.0c 0.0001
45.2b 47.2ab 49.6a 0.0001
837.1b 876.4ab 896.2a 0.0001
0.0001
0.0001
0.4116
0.0001
839.7a 759.1b 0.0001
28.1a 29.4a 0.8911
36.2a 35.6a 30.2697
781.4a 760.3b 0.0001
767.4b 790.7b 840.1a 0.0001
30.2a 28.3a 27.9a 0.5156
35.2a 36.3a 36.2a 0.8922
740.0b 768.4ab 804.1a 0.0001
0.0001
0.2679
0.5156
0.0001
W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern. I0, I1, and I2 represent irrigation regimes with no irrigation, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, respectively. In each growing season, values followed by different letters are significantly (P < 0.05) different among treatments. The in italics are the P value of the significance. When P < 0.05 means “significantly different”, and when P > 0.05 means “not significantly different”.
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Fig. 2. Evapotranspiration in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventionalcultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
showed significantly higher WUE in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. 4. Discussion In both growing seasons, grain yields were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern mainly owing to significant improvement in the spike numbers in the wide-precision planting pattern. At jointing stage, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern suggesting the wideprecision planting pattern accelerated formation of tillers. After jointing stage, the tillers appeared polarizated (Challaiah et al., 1986). However, at flowering stage, the tillers number was much higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern indicating that more
Fig. 3. WUE in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
Fig. 4. Transpiration rate in flag leaves of winter wheat on May 13, 2011 (I) and on May 9, 2012 (II). W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
tillers in the wide-precision planting pattern survived and produced an increase in spike numbers. This result suggests that the wide-precision planting pattern increases the winter wheat tillering ability and subsequent increases in spike numbers at maturity. Li et al. (2006) indicated that winter wheat tillers number was an important factor contributing to the amount of incoming photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the canopy. This finding explains why wide-precision planting patterns resulted in an increase in photosynthetically active radiation capture ratio (Zhao et al., 2013) and grain yield. This result implies that evapotranspiration was not significantly different between wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern; however, in late winter wheat growing season, regardless of irrigation or not, respiration rate in flag leaves was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern (Fig. 4). In winter wheat field, evapotranspiration is divided into evaporation and transpiration (Youri et al., 2010). Evaporation is usually considered to be a non-productive component of evapotranspiration; whereas, the amount of water available for transpiration is the productive component of evapotranspiration (Singh et al., 2011). Therefore, while wide-precision planting pattern reduces evaporation, it does not “save” much water because the winter wheat uses it by increasing the transpiration rate. This fact may account for why wide-precision planting pattern resulted in the highest WUE.
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Changing the conventional-cultivation planting pattern into wide-precision planting pattern improved the vertical distribution of leaf area index of winter wheat (Zhao et al., 2013), which reduced the photosynthetically active radiation penetration ratio in winter wheat canopy. Moreover, wind speed, air temperature, and relative humidity maybe also improved. Future research addressing the above question will contribute to understanding the mechanisms impacting and explaining why WUE in wide-precision planting pattern is significantly higher than that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. North China Plain is the main winter wheat production area in China. In order to get high and stable winter wheat grain production, irrigation should be applied. Our results showed that winter wheat grain yield was enhanced as the irrigation amount increased; however, since the water resources in the Plain are limited, deficit irrigation needs to be adopted to achieve sustainable grain production in this region. In recent years, annual rainfall in North China Plain has not been consistent (Sun et al., 2010). Despite the amount of rainfall received during the early to late winter wheat growing season, the WUE in wide-precision planting pattern was significantly higher than that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Therefore, to maintain sustainable agricultural production and consistently higher grain yield, we suggest that winter wheat be planted in wideprecision planting pattern in combination with deficit irrigation. 5. Conclusion Grain yield was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern with increases in grain yield attributed primarily to the significant increase in spike numbers. Evapotranspiraiton did not significantly differ between the two planting patterns. In both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, WUE was significantly higher in the wideprecision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Acknowledgements This work was financially supported in part by the National Science and Technology Plan Project in Rural Areas of China (2013AA102903), by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31101114), and by the Development of Science and Technology Plan Projects in Shandong Province of China (2014GNC111002). The authors are very grateful to Dr. Mohammad Zaman Amini for his help in improving and correcting the paper. References Adelian, D., JafariHaghighi, B., Alizadeh, O., Aseyfi, Z., 2012. Study and comparison of figures wheat yield on deficit Irrigation. Int. J. Agron. Plant Prod 3 (11), 527–534. Anabela, A.F., Timóteo, C.F., Carlos, M.C., Aureliano, C.M., Francisco, J.V., 2010. Influence of different irrigation regimes on crop yield and water use efficiency of olive. Plant Soil 333, 35–47. Challaiah, O.C.B., Wicks, G.A., Johnson, V.A., 1986. Competition between winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars and Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum). Weed Sci. 34 (5), 689–693.
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Agricultural Water Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat
Winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in wide-precision planting pattern under deficit irrigation in North China Plain Quanqi Li ∗ , Chengyue Bian, Xinhui Liu, Changjian Ma, Quanru Liu College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
a r t i c l e
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Article history: Received 13 October 2014 Accepted 5 February 2015 Available online 2 March 2015 Keywords: Tillers number Yield compositions Evapotranspiration Growing season Winter wheat
a b s t r a c t Water resources in North China Plain are limited; however, the Plain is the most important winter wheat production area in China and winter wheat should be irrigated to get high grain yield. To better understand the potential for improving grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE), treatment effects of planting patterns and deficit irrigation were quantified on tillers number, grain yield, evapotranspiration, and WUE during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. The two planting patterns were wide-precision planting pattern (sowing width was 6–8 cm) and conventional-cultivation planting pattern (sowing width was 3–5 cm). Each planting pattern had three irrigation regimes, i.e., no irrigation, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages. Results indicated that whether irrigated or not, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern; accounting for spike numbers in wide-precision planting pattern being significantly higher than in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Grain yield was increased when irrigation amount increased, and was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Significant interaction between planting patterns and deficit irrigation regimes occurred in both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 grain yields. Under the same deficit irrigation regime, there were not significant differences in the evapotranspiration between the two planting patterns. In the both growing seasons, irrespective of irrigation treatment, WUE was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Results support the application of wide-precision planting pattern in combination with deficit irrigation for maximizing winter wheat production in North China Plain. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction North China Plain, covering an area of 3.2 × 105 km2 , supplies more than 50% of the winter wheat and 33% of the summer maize produced in China (Zhang et al., 2010). Due to climatic conditions, the winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system is well adopted to this region. During the winter wheat growing season, annual rainfall is usually less than 200 mm, and evapotranspiration in winter wheat is more than 400 mm (Li et al., 2012; Fulvia et al., 2012); thus, irrigation is needed to achieve high and stable winter wheat production. However, the summer maize growing season coincides with the rainy season in North China Plain in reducing the need for irrigation in normal years. In contrast, the winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system in North
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 538 8249656. E-mail address: [email protected] (Q. Li). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.02.004 0378-3774/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
China Plain usually requires irrigation during the winter wheat growing seasons. Water resources are limited in North China Plain, and nearly all usable surface water resources are restricted for urban and metropolitan use (Hu et al., 2010); hence, crop production relies mainly on groundwater irrigation. As a result, groundwater tables are dropping approximately 1.5 m per year, which is threatening the sustainability of agricultural production in this area (Fang et al., 2010). It is therefore essential to optimize reasonable irrigation strategies to increase water use efficiency (WUE) in order to develop sustainable crop production in the Plain. Current evidence suggests that a deficit irrigation strategy could be the best option for increasing crop WUE, and is an important tool in reducing irrigation water demands (Anabela et al., 2010; Neal et al., 2012). Deficit irrigation affects crop grain yields significantly. Hamid et al. (2012) indicated that with deficit irrigation, approximately 22% of irrigation water may be saved without significant loss in wheat grain yield. Similar results were observed by Shaughnessy
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et al. (2012). However, many researchers suggested that crop grain yields could be reduced significantly under deficit irrigation conditions (Adelian et al., 2012; Olanike and Chandra, 2014; Steven and Stewart, 2014). Therefore, achieving the correct balance of deficit irrigation and grain yield is fundamental to sustained cropping in North China Plain. In recent years, many researchers suggested that planting patterns could improve crops grain yield and WUE. In North India, bed planting pattern could significantly increase both winter wheat and summer maize grain yield and WUE (Naresh et al., 2012). In North China, under both dryland and deficit irrigation conditions, furrow planting pattern significantly increased winter wheat grain yield and WUE (Li et al., 2012). In furrow planting pattern, partial root zone irrigation significantly affected the growth and WUE of summer maize (Hu et al., 2009), potato (Yactayo et al., 2013), tomato (Eugenio et al., 2012), and grape (Du et al., 2013). Therefore, improving crop planting patterns is an option to increase crops grain yield and WUE. In order to enhance winter wheat grain yield in North China Plain, Shandong Agricultural University introduced a wideprecision planting pattern. The new planting pattern changes the traditional sowing width from 3–5 cm to 6–8 cm and altering of seed distribution by separating single grains from each other instead of planting all the seeds in a line, while using the same seeding rate. In 2010, the new planting pattern achieved the highest winter wheat grain yields (11.9 × 103 kg hm−2 ) in a large area in North China Plain (Yu et al., 2010). Compared with conventional-cultivation planting pattern, the photosynthetically active radiation capture ratios at both 40 and 60 cm above the ground surface in wide-precision planting pattern were much higher (Zhao et al., 2013). Since net radiation is the main driving force of evapotranspiration (Irmak et al., 2011), it is hypothesized that the evapotranspiration in wide-precision planting pattern maybe different from that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern, resulting in different grain yield and WUE. Tillers number is a crucial process in determining winter wheat grain yield. It is the main determinant of spike numbers at harvest, the component most closely correlated with grain yield (Roy and Gallagher, 1985). Therefore, objectives of this study were to determine (i) the effect of deficit irrigation and wide-precision planting pattern on winter wheat tillers number at different growth stages, (ii) grain yield and yield compositions, and (iii) evapotranspiration and WUE. Addressing these questions could provide a theoretical basis and practical support for development of an efficient highyielding and water-saving planting pattern in North China Plain.
2. Materials and methods 2.1. Experimental site The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Station of Shandong Agricultural University (36◦ 10 19 N, 117◦ 9 03 E), in North China Plain. Agriculture in this area is intensified by a winter wheat and summer maize double cropping system. In this region, the mean rainfall is 697 mm, of which approximately 454 mm falls in summer maize growing season. The experiment was conducted in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. Each experimental plot is 3.0 m × 3.0 m in size with a light loamy soil and concrete slabs placed around the plots to prevent the lateral flow of soil water. The levels of rapidly available phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium in 0–20 cm soil layer were 15.2, 65.2, and 81.8 mg kg−1 , respectively. At the time of sowing, 26.1 g m−2 of diammonium hydrogen phosphate, 21.0 g m−2 of potassium sulfate, and 38.4 g m−2 of urea were applied to the soil, and 38.4 g m−2 of urea was added at jointing stage. The winter wheat was planted
Table 1 Treatments with the timing, growth stage, and irrigation amount for winter wheat in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012. Growing seasons
Treatments
Timing (growth stage)/irrigation amount (mm)
2010–2011
C0 C1 C2
0 April 1 (jointing)/60 April 1 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60 0 April 1 (jointing)/60 April 1 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60
W0 W1 W2 2011–2012
C0 C1 C2 W0 W1 W2
0 April 5 (jointing)/60 April 5 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60 0 April 5 (jointing)/60 April 5 (jointing)/60, May 3 (heading)/60
W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and traditional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing season, respectively.
at a density of 444.0 plants m−2 on October 6, 2010 and October 8, 2011. Thinning was done by hand 5 days after emergence to obtain the final population density of 222.0 plants m−2 . Winter wheat was harvested on June 13, 2011 and June 9, 2012, respectively. The variety used for the experiment was “Jimai 22”, which is widely planted in North China Plain. 2.2. Experimental design The experiment adopted a split plot design arranged in randomized blocks with three replications. Main plots were planting patterns, including wide-precision planting pattern (W) and conventional-cultivation planting pattern (C). Subplots consisted of three different irrigation regimes: no irrigation at anytime in winter wheat growing season (I0), irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage (I1), and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages (I2). The winter wheat jointing and heading stages were on April 1 and May 3, 2011, and April 5 and May 3, 2012, respectively. Treatments with the irrigation timing and amount for winter wheat in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 are presented in Table 1. The line spacing in both planting patterns was 30.0 cm, and the sowing widths in wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern were 6.0–8.0 and 3.0–5.0 cm, respectively. Both planting patterns used the same seeding rate. Water was supplied to the plots from a pump outlet by using plastic pipes, and a flow meter was used to measure the irrigated water amount. 2.3. Measurements 2.3.1. Tillers number The tillers number was estimated at jointing and flowering stages in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. At these stages, 0.6 m × 0.4 m rectangles were placed on the field and the plants inside rectangles were counted to determine the tillers numbers per m2 . 2.3.2. Soil moisture content The volumetric soil water content of the cores obtained at every 10.0 cm down to 120.0 cm was measured by a CNC503D neutron moisture meter (Super Energy. Nuclear Technology Ltd., Beijing, China). The soil moisture content of the top 20.0 cm soil layer was measured by oven-drying method. Measurements were performed
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at approximately 7-day intervals. Additional measurements were performed before and after irrigation or rainfall events. 2.3.3. Evapotranspiration Winter wheat evapotranspiration was calculated using the following equation (Li et al., 2012): ET = I + P − R − D − SW
(1)
where ET (mm) is the evapotranspiration, I (mm) is the irrigation water amount, P (mm) is rainfall, which was measured from the weather station at the site by using a standard rain gauge, R (mm) is the surface runoff, which was assumed as not significant since concrete slabs were placed around each plot, D (mm) is the downward flux below the crop root zone, which was ignored since soil moisture measurements indicated that drainage at the sites were negligible, and SW (mm) is the change in water storage in the soil profile exploited by crop roots. 2.3.4. Grain yield and yield composition When the winter wheat had reached maturity, 1.5-m stretches of 2 rows were selected at random in each experimental plot to measure the spike numbers, 1000-kernel weight, and grain yield. The plants were harvested manually and air-dried. Additional 20 plants were harvested to determine the kernel numbers per spike. 2.3.5. Water use efficiency Water use efficiency (WUE) was defined as follows (Sadras and Lawson, 2013): WUE =
Y ET
(2)
where Y (kg m−2 ) is the winter wheat grain yield, and ET (mm) is the evapotranspiration in the whole winter wheat growing seasons derived from Eq. (1). 2.3.6. Transpiration rate The transpiration rate was measured in flag leaves from 9:00 to 11:00 on May 13, 2011 and 9:00 to 11:00 on May 9, 2012 by Li-6400 portable photosynthesis system (Li-cor, USA), and the artificial light sources was 1500 mol m−2 s−1 . 2.4. Statistical analysis The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed at ˛ = 0.05 level of significance to determine if significant differences existed among treatments means. The multiple comparisons were done for significant effects with the LSD test at ˛ = 0.05. The differences between the treatments were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. 3. Results 3.1. Rainfall In 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, rainfall totals were 211.2 and 221.8 mm, respectively (Table 2), which were less than the average seasonal rainfall (242.6 mm) by 31.4 and 20.8 mm, respectively. In the 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, rainfall occurred mainly from April to June, accounting for 85.9% of the total annual rainfall. By contrast, in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, rainfall occurred mainly from October to March, and the rainfall during this period accounted for 69.9% of the total annual rainfall.
Fig. 1. Winter wheat tillers number in 2010–2011 (I) and 2011–2012 (II) winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and traditional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing season, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
3.2. Tillers number Both planting patterns and irrigation had significant effect on winter wheat tillers number (Fig. 1). In wide-precision planting pattern, after irrigated 60.0 mm at jointing stage, the tillers number was significantly improved compared to no irrigation; however, in conventional-cultivation planting pattern, irrigation at jointing stage did not have statistically different effect on tillers number compared to no irrigation. Hence, at jointing stage, under irrigated conditions, the tillers number was much higher in the wideprecision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. At flowering stage, in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, the tillers number increased with irrigation amount increased. However, in the both growing seasons, whether irrigated or not, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. The differences in tillers number would affect winter wheat yield compositions greatly. 3.3. Yield compositions and grain yield In the both growing seasons, spike numbers were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and irrigated 60 mm each at jointing and heading stages could significantly enhance spike numbers (Table 3). Compared with no irrigation at anytime during the winter wheat growing season, in 2010–2011 winter
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Table 2 Rainfall in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons (mm). Growing seasons
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Total
2010–2011 2011–2012
3.0a 13.4
0.0 99.2
0.2 14.7
0.0 1.8
24.0 0.1
2.6 25.9
10.4 43.7
132.0 7.0
39.0b 16.0
211.2 221.8
a b
Rainfall in October was the mean monthly from sown day to Oct 31. Rainfall in June was the mean monthly from June 1 to harvested day.
wheat growing season, 1000-kernle weight in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages was significantly increased. However, kernel numbers per spike was significantly decreased; in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, both 1000-kernel weight and kernel numbers per spike in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages were not significant differences. Grain yields were significantly affected by both planting patterns and deficit irrigation regimes. Grain yields were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern by 56.5 g m−2 in 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, and by 21.1 g m−2 in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, respectively, owing mainly to the changes in yield compositions and a significant increase in spike numbers during the both growing seasons. Grain yields also increased as the irrigation amount increased. Compared with no irrigation at anytime during the winter wheat growing season, the grain yield in irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages was significantly higher by 59.1 g m−2 in 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, and by 64.1 g m−2 in 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season. These differences were attributed to a significant increase in spike numbers. Significant interaction between planting patterns and irrigation regimes occurred in both 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 grain yields and spike numbers. The wide-precision planting pattern always resulted in the highest grain yield in this experiment; thus, it has the potential to significantly increase winter wheat grain yield under different irrigation regimes.
3.4. Evapotranspiration In 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons, in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, evapotranspiration significantly increased with increased irrigation amount (Fig. 2); however, under the same irrigation conditions, there were not significant differences in the evapotranspiration between the two planting patterns.
3.5. Water use efficiency In 2010–2011 winter wheat growing season, neither wideprecision planting pattern nor conventional-cultivation planting pattern produced significant differences in WUE between no irrigation and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage (Fig. 3). However, under the treatment of irrigating 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stage, WUE in both wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern was significantly decreased as compared to no irrigation and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage. In 2011–2012 winter wheat growing season, the wide-precision planting pattern produced no significant difference in WUE between irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages and irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage; however, both had significantly lower WUE than that in no irrigation. In conventional-cultivation planting pattern, when irrigation amount increased, WUE was significantly decreased. In both growing seasons, both irrigated and no irrigation treatments
Table 3 Grain yield and yield compositions in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. Treatments 2010–2011 By planting patterns W C P value By irrigation I0 I1 I2 P value Interaction Planting pattern × irrigation 2011–2012 By planting patterns W C P value By irrigation I0 I1 I2 P value Interaction Planting pattern × irrigation
Spike number (spike m−2 )
Kernel numbers per spike (kernel spike−1 )
1000-kernel weight (g)
Grain yield (g m−2 )
732.1a 669.4b 0.0001
30.2a 29.2a 0.6295
47.0a 47.6a 0.8329
898.1a 841.6b 0.0001
703.3ab 666.5b 732.4a 0.0001
29.9b 31.2a 28.0c 0.0001
45.2b 47.2ab 49.6a 0.0001
837.1b 876.4ab 896.2a 0.0001
0.0001
0.0001
0.4116
0.0001
839.7a 759.1b 0.0001
28.1a 29.4a 0.8911
36.2a 35.6a 30.2697
781.4a 760.3b 0.0001
767.4b 790.7b 840.1a 0.0001
30.2a 28.3a 27.9a 0.5156
35.2a 36.3a 36.2a 0.8922
740.0b 768.4ab 804.1a 0.0001
0.0001
0.2679
0.5156
0.0001
W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern. I0, I1, and I2 represent irrigation regimes with no irrigation, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, respectively. In each growing season, values followed by different letters are significantly (P < 0.05) different among treatments. The in italics are the P value of the significance. When P < 0.05 means “significantly different”, and when P > 0.05 means “not significantly different”.
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Fig. 2. Evapotranspiration in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventionalcultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
showed significantly higher WUE in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. 4. Discussion In both growing seasons, grain yields were significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern mainly owing to significant improvement in the spike numbers in the wide-precision planting pattern. At jointing stage, tillers number was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern suggesting the wideprecision planting pattern accelerated formation of tillers. After jointing stage, the tillers appeared polarizated (Challaiah et al., 1986). However, at flowering stage, the tillers number was much higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern indicating that more
Fig. 3. WUE in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 winter wheat growing seasons. W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
Fig. 4. Transpiration rate in flag leaves of winter wheat on May 13, 2011 (I) and on May 9, 2012 (II). W and C represent wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern, and the following numbers 2, 1, and 0 represent irrigated 60.0 mm each at jointing and heading stages, irrigated 60.0 mm only at jointing stage, and no irrigation in winter wheat growing seasons, respectively. Vertical bars are standard errors.
tillers in the wide-precision planting pattern survived and produced an increase in spike numbers. This result suggests that the wide-precision planting pattern increases the winter wheat tillering ability and subsequent increases in spike numbers at maturity. Li et al. (2006) indicated that winter wheat tillers number was an important factor contributing to the amount of incoming photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the canopy. This finding explains why wide-precision planting patterns resulted in an increase in photosynthetically active radiation capture ratio (Zhao et al., 2013) and grain yield. This result implies that evapotranspiration was not significantly different between wide-precision planting pattern and conventional-cultivation planting pattern; however, in late winter wheat growing season, regardless of irrigation or not, respiration rate in flag leaves was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern (Fig. 4). In winter wheat field, evapotranspiration is divided into evaporation and transpiration (Youri et al., 2010). Evaporation is usually considered to be a non-productive component of evapotranspiration; whereas, the amount of water available for transpiration is the productive component of evapotranspiration (Singh et al., 2011). Therefore, while wide-precision planting pattern reduces evaporation, it does not “save” much water because the winter wheat uses it by increasing the transpiration rate. This fact may account for why wide-precision planting pattern resulted in the highest WUE.
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Changing the conventional-cultivation planting pattern into wide-precision planting pattern improved the vertical distribution of leaf area index of winter wheat (Zhao et al., 2013), which reduced the photosynthetically active radiation penetration ratio in winter wheat canopy. Moreover, wind speed, air temperature, and relative humidity maybe also improved. Future research addressing the above question will contribute to understanding the mechanisms impacting and explaining why WUE in wide-precision planting pattern is significantly higher than that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. North China Plain is the main winter wheat production area in China. In order to get high and stable winter wheat grain production, irrigation should be applied. Our results showed that winter wheat grain yield was enhanced as the irrigation amount increased; however, since the water resources in the Plain are limited, deficit irrigation needs to be adopted to achieve sustainable grain production in this region. In recent years, annual rainfall in North China Plain has not been consistent (Sun et al., 2010). Despite the amount of rainfall received during the early to late winter wheat growing season, the WUE in wide-precision planting pattern was significantly higher than that in conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Therefore, to maintain sustainable agricultural production and consistently higher grain yield, we suggest that winter wheat be planted in wideprecision planting pattern in combination with deficit irrigation. 5. Conclusion Grain yield was significantly higher in the wide-precision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern with increases in grain yield attributed primarily to the significant increase in spike numbers. Evapotranspiraiton did not significantly differ between the two planting patterns. In both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, WUE was significantly higher in the wideprecision planting pattern than in the conventional-cultivation planting pattern. Acknowledgements This work was financially supported in part by the National Science and Technology Plan Project in Rural Areas of China (2013AA102903), by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31101114), and by the Development of Science and Technology Plan Projects in Shandong Province of China (2014GNC111002). The authors are very grateful to Dr. Mohammad Zaman Amini for his help in improving and correcting the paper. References Adelian, D., JafariHaghighi, B., Alizadeh, O., Aseyfi, Z., 2012. Study and comparison of figures wheat yield on deficit Irrigation. Int. J. Agron. Plant Prod 3 (11), 527–534. Anabela, A.F., Timóteo, C.F., Carlos, M.C., Aureliano, C.M., Francisco, J.V., 2010. Influence of different irrigation regimes on crop yield and water use efficiency of olive. Plant Soil 333, 35–47. Challaiah, O.C.B., Wicks, G.A., Johnson, V.A., 1986. Competition between winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars and Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum). Weed Sci. 34 (5), 689–693.
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