Yield performance of spring wheat improved by regulated deficit irrigation in an arid area

A field experiment was conducted in 2003 and 2004 growing seasons to evaluate the effects of regulated deficit irrigation on yield performance in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) in an arid area. Three regulated deficit irrigation treatments designed to subject the crops to various degrees of soil water deficit at different stages of crop development and a no-soil-water-deficit control was established. Soil moisture was measured gravimetrically in the increment of 0–20 cm every five to seven days in the given growth periods, while that in 20 increments to 40, 40–60, 60–80, and 80–100 cm depth measured by neutron probe. Compared to the no-soil-water-deficit treatment, grain yield, biomass, harvest index, water use efficiency (WUE), and water supply use efficiency (WsUE) in spring wheat were all greatly improved by 16.6–25.0, 12.4–19.2, 23.5–27.3, 32.7–39.9, and 44.6–58.8% under regulated deficit irrigation, and better yield components such as thousand-grain weight, grain weight per spike, number of grain, length of spike, and fertile spikelet number were also obtained, but irrigation water was substantially decreased by 14.0–22.9%. The patterns of soil moisture were similar in the regulated deficit treatments, and the soil moisture contents were greatly decreased by regulated deficit irrigation during wheat growing seasons. Significant differences were found between the no-soil-water-deficit treatment and the regulated soil water deficit treatments in grain yield, yield components, biomass, harvest index, WUE, and WsUE, but no significant differences occurred within the regulated soil water deficit treatments. Yield performance proved that regulated deficit irrigation treatment subjected to medium soil water deficit both during the middle vegetative stage (jointing) and the late reproductive stages (filling and maturity or filling) while subjected to no-soil-water-deficit both during the late vegetative stage (booting) and the early reproductive stage (heading) (MNNM) had the highest yield increase of 25.0 and 14.0% of significant water-saving, therefore, the optimum controlled soil water deficit levels in this study should range 50–60% of field water capacity (FWC) at the middle vegetative growth period (jointing), and 65–70% of FWC at both of the late vegetative period (booting) and early reproductive period (heading) followed by 50–60% of FWC at the late reproductive periods (the end of filling or filling and maturity) in treatment MNNM, with the corresponding optimum total irrigation water of 338 mm. In addition, the relationships among grain yield, biomass, and harvest index, the relationship between grain yield and WUE, WsUE, and the relationship between harvest index and WUE, WsUE under regulated deficit irrigation were also estimated through linear or non-linear regression models, which indicate that the highest grain yield was associated with the maximum biomass, harvest index, and water supply use efficiency, but not with the highest water use efficiency, which was reached by appropriate controlling soil moisture content and water consumption. The relations also indicate that the harvest index was associated with the maximum biomass and water supply use efficiency, but not with the highest water use efficiency.     

春小麦调亏灌溉对土壤氮磷钾的影响

对河西绿洲灌区春小麦调亏灌溉2年后的土壤碱解氮和全氮、速效磷和全磷、速效钾和全钾进行了研究,并对土壤养分年际间的差异进行了分析,旨在为该区春小麦调亏灌溉对土壤氮磷钾养分的影响研究提供一些可靠的信息。     

Effects of different soil conservation tillage approaches on soil nutrients,water use and wheat-maize yield in rainfed dry-land regions of North China

Excessive tillage compromises soil quality by causing severe water shortages that can lead to crop failure. Reports on the effects of conservation tillage on major soil nutrients, water use efficiency and gain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) in rainfed regions in the North China Plain are relatively scarce. In this work, four tillage approaches were tested from 2004 to 2012 in a randomized study performed in triplicate: one conventional tillage and three conservation tillage experiments with straw mulching (no tillage during wheat and maize seasons, subsoiling during the maize season but no tillage during the wheat season, and ridge planting during both wheat and maize seasons). Compared with conventional tillage, by 2012, eight years of conservation tillage treatments (no tillage, subsoiling and ridge planting) resulted in a significant increase in available phosphorus in topsoil (0–0.20 m), by 3.8%, 37.8% and 36.9%, respectively. Soil available potassium was also increased following conservation tillage, by 13.6%, 37.5% and 25.0%, and soil organic matter by 0.17%, 5.65% and 4.77%, while soil total nitrogen was altered by −2.33%, 4.21% and 1.74%, respectively. Meanwhile, all three conservation tillage approaches increased water use efficiency, by 19.1–28.4% (average 24.6%), 10.1–23.8% (average 15.9%) and 11.2–20.7% (average 15.7%) in wheat, maize and annual, respectively. Additionally, wheat yield was increased by 7.9–12.0% (average 10.3%), maize yield by 13.4–24.6% (average 17.4%) and rotation annual yield by 12.3–16.9% (average 14.1%). Overall, our findings demonstrate that subsoiling and ridge planting with straw mulching performed better than conventional tillage for enhancing major soil nutrients and improving grain yield and water use efficiency in rainfed regions in the North China Plain.     

Yield and water consumption characteristics of wheat/maize intercropping with reduced tillage in an Oasis region

Higher irrigation quota for conventional farming causes substantial conflicts between water supply and demand in agriculture, and wind erosion near soil surface is one of the major causes of farmland degradation and desertification in arid areas. This research investigated the effect of the amounts of irrigation in combination with tillage practices on soil evaporation (E), water consumption (ET) characteristics, and grain yield performance and water use efficiency (WUE) for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) intercropped with maize (Zea mays L.) in strip planting in an Oasis region. The field experiment, conducted at Wuwei station during 2008–2010, had two tillage systems (reduced tillage with wheat stubble retention vs. conventional tillage without stubble retention), and three (low, medium, and high) levels of irrigation, in a randomized complete block design. Averaged across three years, soil evaporation with medium and high levels of irrigation was 6.8% and 5.4% greater than that with low level of irrigation, respectively. Total water consumption of wheat/maize crops under the medium and high irrigation levels was 8.5% and 18.5% greater, respectively, than that under low irrigation. However, grain yields were similar under the medium and high levels of irrigation, so was WUE. The effect of tillage on the wheat/maize intercropping was inconsistent across years or among treatments: soil moisture at harvest was 3.0–7.6% greater in the fields with reduced tillage compared with those with conventional tillage in 2008 and 2009, but no difference was found in 2010; the E/ET ratio of reduced tillage was 9% lower than the ratio under conventional tillage in 2008, 3% higher in 2010, but no difference between the two tillage systems in 2009. Across three years, there was a general trend that the WUE of the wheat/maize intercropping system with reduced tillage was greater (by 4–11%) than that with conventional tillage. We conclude that a medium level of irrigation is sufficient to achieve crop yields and WUE equivalent to those under high level of irrigation, provided that a reduced tillage practice is applied to the wheat/maize intercropping in Oasis areas.     

The effect of plastic mulch on the fate of urea-N in rain-fed maize production in a semiarid environment as assessed by 15N-labeling

A better understanding of the fate of fertilizer nitrogen (N) is critical to design appropriate N management strategies in plastic-mulched croplands. We evaluated the effects of plastic mulch on urea-N recovery by crops and loss from soil in furrow-ridge plots, with and without maize (Zea mays L.) cropping, in a semi-arid rain-fed site in China. We applied the same rate of urea-N (281 kg ha⁻¹) to all treatments during the preparation of the furrow-ridges in 2011 and 2012 but ¹⁵N-labeled the urea in 2011 only. We used transparent film to cover all soil surfaces in the mulched treatments and seeded maize in furrows in treatments with crop. In 2011, plastic mulch increased the total N uptake in the aboveground biomass of maize by 53%, whereas it decreased the in-season labeled-N uptake by 19%, compared to non-mulched treatment. At harvest in 2011, in mulched treatments the total labeled-N remaining in the 0−170 cm soil layer was 25% greater whereas unaccounted labeled-N was 69% less, than in non-mulched treatments, regardless of whether maize was cropped. In 2012 the effect of mulch on total maize N uptake was comparable to that in 2011, but the residual soil labeled-N uptake by maize was 63% higher in mulched compared to non-mulched treatment. At harvest in 2012, plastic mulch increased total labeled-N remaining in the 0−170 cm depth in cropped soils and unaccounted labeled-N in non-cropped soils, compared with no mulch. Our results indicate that plastic mulch profoundly changes the fate of urea-N in maize production in cold and dry croplands.     

绿洲春小麦调亏灌溉对土壤磷素养分的影响研究

对甘肃省河西绿洲灌区春小麦调亏灌溉两年后土壤速效磷和全P变化进行了研究,并采用配对样本t检验(双尾检验)对小麦收获时土壤P素养分指标年际间的差异及其与全生育期调亏供水量、速效磷与全P的关系进行了回归分析。结果发现,春小麦调亏灌溉对土壤P素养分有显著影响,0~20cm和0~40cm土层土壤全P量和速效磷均与小麦全生育期供水量呈线性正相关;土壤速效磷随着全P量的增加呈线性增加趋势。且小麦全生育期供水量与土壤全P量和速效磷及速效磷与全P量的关系0~20cm和0~40cm土层极为一致。     

黄土丘陵沟壑区不同植被类型次降雨产流产沙特征

在甘肃省定西市安家沟小流域以径流小区为研究对象,利用径流场在自然降雨条件下监测所得径流泥沙资料,对不同植被类型的次降雨入渗、产流产沙特征进行了对比研究。结果表明：不同植被类型土壤入渗率均随着雨强的增大线性增大,入渗速率与降雨历时呈幂函数关系。油松林的径流系数（15.97%~19.88%）最大,小麦地（10.91%~17.32%）和沙棘林（9.51%~17.47%）次之,冰草地（4.62%~8.30%）和苜蓿地（6.82%~10.66%）的径流系数最小。径流系数（1%~28%）与降雨量之间符合幂函数关系（P<0.05）。径流含沙量平均值排序依次为小麦地（16.49~22.71 g·L^-1）>苜蓿地（12.66~16.91 g·L^-1）>沙棘林（7.04~11.8 g·L^-1）>油松林（6.95~7.78 g·L^-1）>冰草地（5.53~7.71 g·L^-1）。径流含沙量和土壤侵蚀率均与降雨侵蚀力呈正相关关系（P<0.01）,可分别采用线性函数和二次函数进行定量描述。研究成果可为黄土丘陵沟壑区水土保持优化配置提供参考。     

白膜、黑膜全年覆盖下的土壤水、热、盐变化

地膜覆盖因能有效地增温保墒增产而在黄土丘陵区旱作农林生产中广泛应用。为明确不同薄膜覆盖的差异以及连续覆膜条件下的土壤水热盐变化特征,于2015年7月1日—2017年6月30日在陕北米脂进行野外连续覆膜定位观测,试验设裸地(CK)、白色薄膜(WF)与黑色薄膜(BF)3种处理,利用GS3仪器监测0～150cm深度的土壤水分、温度和电导率。结果表明:1)连续覆盖两年后,两种覆膜处理平均土壤含水量为16.9%, CK为13.6%,土壤储水量分别达314.56mm、204.44mm,具体表现为土壤含水量BF在0～15cm高于WF(P0.05),15～30cm低于WF(P0.05); 0～150 cm, WF和BF总储水量差异不显著,与CK差异显著(P0.05);在作物生育期覆膜平均较CK提高储水量60.8 mm。2)膜覆盖下近地面日温差WF大于BF, 0～150 cm,两种覆膜周年土壤平均温度无显著差异,较CK高1.3℃(P0.05);气温较高条件下WF比BF、CK缩短冻融时间分别达8d和24d,WF更有利于土壤解冻和早春土壤增温。3)周年土壤表层盐分高,其中0～30 cm土层电导率为BFWFCK, 30～50 cm土层为WFBFCK,但土壤总体盐分较低,无土壤盐渍化趋势, 50 cm以下3种处理盐分没有差异。综合而言, WF较BF更能提高表层土壤温度, BF较WF更能提高表层土壤水分,覆膜保墒增温,延长作物生长时间。研究成果可为黄土丘陵区旱作农业覆膜应用提供土壤水热盐调控依据,也为果园和林地常年连续覆膜提供参考。     

有限灌溉对绿洲春玉米农田耗水特征及水分利用效率的影响

为了探究有限灌溉对绿洲沙地春玉米农田耗水特征及水分利用效率的影响,利用中子仪结合烘干秤重法连续监测了河西走廊荒漠绿洲沙地春玉米不同生育期农田土壤水分动态,分析了玉米农田日耗水量动态与土壤蒸散及作物水分利用效率。结果表明,整个生育期除播种-五叶期和拔节-孕穗期外,所有有限灌溉处理及充分供水对照间日耗水量均无显著差异(P0.05),各生育时段内日耗水量随生育过程呈由小到大再由大到小的变化趋势,其峰值出现在吐丝—灌浆中期且高达6.8~10.0mm/d。灌水最少但产量最高的有限灌溉处理MI1全生育期蒸散量仅次于灌水较多的处理MI5。对照CK全生育期蒸散量远高于MI5,增幅达16.0%,而以MI3最低。水分利用效率以MI1和MI3最高,且与其他处理及对照间差异显著(P0.05)。水分利用效率以MI4最低,MI1和MI3水分利用效率均比MI2、MI4、MI5和CK显著提高19.3%,34.1%,15.3%和25.4%。MI1与其他所有处理及对照间、MI3与其他所有处理及对照间灌溉水利用效率差异显著,且以灌水最少但产量最高的MI1最高,以MI4最低。处理MI1灌溉水利用效率分别比MI2、MI3、MI4、MI5及CK显著提高35.1%,14.6%,61.0%,36.7%,48.4%,而MI3比MI2、MI4、MI5、CK分别显著提高17.9%,40.4%,19.3%,29.4%,MI5比MI4则显著提高17.7%。因此,有限灌溉能提高绿洲玉米水分利用效率和灌溉水利用效率,但有限灌溉对作物水分利用效率和灌溉水利用效率提高的促进作用并不具有稳定性。