Effects of tridimensional uniform sowing on water consumption, nitrogen use, and yield in winter wheat

摘要

Wheat is a staple crop worldwide, but yields may diminish as climate change causes increasingly unpredictable patterns of precipitation and soil nutrient availability. Farmers are thus challenged to maximize planting efficiency to increase yield, while also improving their resource use efficiency. In this study the effectiveness of tridimensional uniform sowing was tested across a range of planting densities for winter wheat crops on the North China Plain. Tridimensional uniform sowing was tested against conventional drilling at three planting densities (180 × 104, 270 × 104, and 360 × 104 plants ha 1) and assessed for water consumption, biomass, nitrogen uptake and allocation, and aspects of yield. The tridimensional uniform sowing treatment outperformed the conventional drilling treatment in most metrics and at most planting densities, while performing markedly better at higher planting densities. Water consumption decreased and nitrogen efficiency increased. Tiller number and percentage of productive tillers, leaf area index, dry weight, and yield increased without a significant decline in grain protein. Nitrogen allocation was more efficient under tridimensional uniform sowing than with conventional drilling, and also varied according to annual precipitation and planting density. Both yield and grain protein contents were significantly correlated with the amount of pre-anthesis accumu- lated nitrogen translocated from vegetative organs to kernels after anthesis. Overall, a density of 270 × 104 plants ha 1 provided the highest water use efficiency and grain yield. Tridimensional uniform sowing will benefit farmers by forming stronger overall crops, promoting the coordinated improvement of yield, nitrogen uptake and efficiency, and increasing grain protein content at higher planting densities.