Effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction on winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in the Huaibei Plain

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.020

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Jinpeng Li¹, Siqi Wang¹, Zhongwei Li¹, Kaiyi Xing¹, Xuefeng Tao¹, Zhimin Wang², Yinghua Zhang², Chunsheng Yao¹^#, Jincai Li¹^#

¹School of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China

²College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

Highlights

l Compared with rain-fed (RF) and conventional irrigation (CI), micro-sprinkler irrigation (MI) synchronously improved the grain yield (GY) and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat.

l MI enhanced the leaves’ stress resistance to delay senescence and strengthened root vigor during grain filling.

l Topsoil compaction after wheat sowing merely increased the GY and WUE under rain-fed conditions.

Abstract
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摘要

提高淮北平原冬小麦的产量（GY）和水分利用效率（WUE）至关重要。然而，微喷灌和播后镇压对小麦产量和水分利用效率的影响尚不清楚。因此，本研究于2021-2023年冬小麦生长季开展了为期两年的大田试验，共设置六个处理：雨养（RF）、常规灌溉（CI）和微喷灌（MI），以及三种灌溉方式下播种后镇压处理（RFC、CIC和MIC）。试验结果表明，与CI和RF相比，微喷灌显著提高了小麦GY，平均增产幅度分别为17.9%和42.1%。MI产量提高是由于其显著增加了穗数、穗粒数和粒重。MI处理下冬小麦花后旗叶叶绿素含量显著高于CI和RF处理，RF下叶绿素含量最低。这是因为MI显著提高了旗叶花后过氧化氢酶和过氧化物酶活性，降低丙二醛含量。与RF和CI相比，MI显著促进了花后干物质转运和积累及其对籽粒产量的贡献率。此外，MI显著促进了小麦根系生长，且灌浆期根系活力显著高于CI和RF处理。在2021-2022年，MI和RF的WUE之间无显著差异，但在2022-2023年，RF的WUE显著低于MI。然而，与CI相比，MI的WUE显著提高，两年平均提高了15.1%和17.6%。在雨养条件下，播后镇压显著提高了小麦GY和WUE，这主要是由于播后镇压显著增加穗数和干物质积累量。综上所述，在淮北平原地区，雨养条件下采用播后镇压可以作为一种提高小麦产量和水分利用效率的有效措施；而采用微喷灌可同时实现该地区小麦高产和水分高效利用的生产目标。

Abstract

Increasing grain yield (GY) and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat in the Huaibei Plain (HP) is essential. However, the effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction after wheat seeds sowing on the GY and WUE are unclear. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted during the 2021–2023 winter wheat growing seasons with a total six treatments: rain-fed (RF), conventional irrigation (CI) and micro-sprinkler irrigation (MI), as well as topsoil compaction after seeds sowing under three irrigation methods (RFC, CIC, and MIC). The two years’ results indicated that MI significantly increased GY compared to CI and RF, which averagely increased by 17.9 and 42.1%, respectively. The increase in GY of MI was due to its significant increase in the number of spikes, kernels per spike, and grain weight. Chlorophyll concentration in flag leaves of MI after anthesis stage was maintained higher levels than CI and RF, RF was the lowest. This was due to the dramatically enhanced catalase and peroxidase activity and lower malondialdehyde content under MI. Compared with RF and CI, MI significantly promoted dry matter remobilization and production after anthesis as well as its contribution to GY. In addition, MI significantly boosted root growth, and root activity during grain filling stage was remarkably enhanced than CI and RF. In 2021–2022, there was no significant difference in WUE between MI and RF, but the WUE of RF was significantly lower than MI in 2022–2023. However, WUE in MI was significantly improved compared to CI, that averagely increased by 15.1 and 17.6% for the two years. Topsoil compaction significantly increased GY and WUE under rain-fed conditions due to improved spike numbers and dry matter production. Overall, topsoil compaction is advisable for enhancing GY and WUE in rain-fed conditions, whereas micro-sprinkler irrigation can be adopted to achieve high GY and WUE simultaneously in the HP.

Keywords: winter wheat micro-sprinkler grain yield root distribution water utilization

Fund:

We sincerely appreciate the funding from the Scientific Research Program of the Higher Educational Institutions in Anhui Province, China (2023AH050986), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFD2301500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001474) and the Talent Introduction Project of Anhui Agricultural University (rc312212, yj2019-01).

About author: Jinpeng Li, E-mail: jinpeng0103@126.com; #Correspondence Chunsheng Yao, E-mail: chunsheng@ahau.edu.cn; Jincai Li, E-mail: ljc5122423@126.com

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Jinpeng Li, Siqi Wang, Zhongwei Li, Kaiyi Xing, Xuefeng Tao, Zhimin Wang, Yinghua Zhang, Chunsheng Yao, Jincai Li. . Effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction on winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in the Huaibei Plain. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.020

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