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Improving Wheat Yield and Water-Use Efficiency by Optimizing Irrigations in Northern China

Author

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  • Xin Zhang

    (College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
    State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Baoding 071000, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jianheng Zhang

    (College of Horticulture, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jiaxin Xue

    (State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Baoding 071000, China)

  • Guiyan Wang

    (College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
    State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Baoding 071000, China
    Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, China
    Key Laboratory of North China Water-Saving Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Baoding 071001, China)

Abstract

Achieving the goal of increasing both crop yield and water-use efficiency with a better irrigation regime is a major challenge in semi-arid areas. In this study, we presented a two-season field experiment (October 2018–June 2019 and October 2019–June 2020) that considered drought stresses, i.e., no irrigation (W0), irrigated in jointing (W1), both in jointing and flowering (W2) after re-greening, and wheat varieties (S086; J22). The results showed that a 45.5% excess of irrigation water input did not promote wheat yield (W1 vs. W2). S086 was beneficial for the usage of soil water consumption under a low amount of irrigation water in both seasons. In addition, irrigation positively affected the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase in flag leaves ( p < 0.05). A decrease in irrigation helped to increase the concentrations of soluble sugar and proline and decrease the amount of malondialdehyde content for S086. For the water- and irrigation-water-use efficiency, W1 was significantly increased by 20.6–21.7% and 38.3–39.3% in 2018–2019 and 23.4–24.4% and 43.8–44.7% in 2019–2020, respectively, as compared to W2. Additionally, a higher yield for S086 than J22 was found under deficit irrigation. Consequently, our study suggested that the S086 variety combined with a total amount of irrigation water of 165 mm might be recommended to meet the win–win goal of high crop yields and water-use efficiency for reducing ground water depletion in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Zhang & Jianheng Zhang & Jiaxin Xue & Guiyan Wang, 2023. "Improving Wheat Yield and Water-Use Efficiency by Optimizing Irrigations in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10503-:d:1186255
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