[Effects of ground cover and water-retaining agent on winter wheat growth and precipitation utilization].

An investigation was made at a hilly upland in western Henan Province to understand the effects of water-retaining agent (0, 45, and 60 kg x hm(-2)), straw mulching (3000 and 6000 kg x hm(-2)), and plastic mulching (thickness < 0.005 mm) on winter wheat growth, soil moisture and nutrition conditions, and precipitation use. All the three measures promoted winter wheat growth, enhanced grain yield and precipitation use efficiency, and improved soil moisture and nutritional regimes. These positive effects were more obvious when the straw- or plastic mulching was combined with the use of water-retaining agent. Comparing with the control, all the measures increased the soil moisture content at different growth stages by 0.1%-6.5%. Plastic film mulching had the best water-retention effect before jointing stage, whereas water-retaining agent showed its best effect after jointing stage. Soil moisture content was the lowest at flowering and grain-filling stages. Land cover increased the grain yield by 2.6%-20.1%. The yield increment was the greatest (14.2%-20.1%) by the combined use of straw mulching and water-retaining agent, followed by plastic mulching combined with water-retaining agent (11.9% on average). Land cover also improved the precipitation use efficiency (0.4-3.2 kg x mm(-1) x hm(-2)) in a similar trend as the grain yield. This study showed that land cover and water-retaining agent improved soil moisture and nutrition conditions and precipitation utilization, which in turn, promoted the tillering of winter wheat, and increased the grain number per ear and the 1000-grain mass.

[Effects of different application rates of water-retaining agent on root physiological characteristics of winter wheat at its different growth stages].

A field experiment was conducted at the Yuzhou Experimental Base of Henan Province to study the effects of different application rates (0, 30, 60, and 90 kg x hm(-2)) of water-retaining agent (WRA) on the root physiological characteristics, biomass, and grain yield of two winter wheat cultivars Zhengmai-9694 and Aikang-58, aimed to probe into the action mechanisms of WRA on the root system of winter wheat at its different growth stages. The application of WRA decreased the root membrane permeability and soluble sugar content, and increased the root vigor. After the application of WRA, the Zhengmai-9694 at its different growth stages had a greater decrement of root membrane permeability, compared with Aikang-58. In all treatments except 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA, the root vigor of Aikang-58 was obviously higher than that of Zhengmai-9694. At booting and grain-filling stages, the root soluble sugar content of Zhengmai-9694 decreased much more than that of Aikang-58. In the whole growth period of the two cultivars, their root membrane permeability and soluble sugar content were the lowest in treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA, and no significant differences were observed between treatments 60 and 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA. The root vigor of Zhengmai-9694 increased remarkably with the increasing rate of WRA application, while that of Aikang-58 was the highest in treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA. The application of WRA also increased root biomass, and at jointing and booting stages, the root biomass of Aikang-58 was much higher than that of Zhengmai-9694. However, at grain-filling stage, the biomass of Aikang-58 in treatments 60 and 90 kg x hm(-2) of WRA was lower than that of Zhengmai-9694. Treatment 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA had the highest grain yield of the two cultivars. It was concluded that WRA had more significant effects on Zhengmai-9694 than on Aikang-58, and applying 60 kg x hm(-2) of WRA could obtain the best effect.