Effects of planting density on photosynthetic characteristics of flag leaf and senescence of leaf and root under wide-width sowing condition.

To determine the optimal planting density under wide-width sowing condition, we investigated the effects of different planting densities on photosynthetic characteristics of flag leaves, senescence characteristics of flag lea-ves and roots, grain yield, and water use efficiency under four planting density levels, 90×104 plants·hm-2 (D1), 180×104 plants·hm-2 (D2), 270×104 plants·hm-2 (D3) and 360×104 plants·hm-2 (D4), in field condition set in Yanzhou, Shandong during the growing season of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The results showed that compared with D1 and D4 treatments, D2 treatment significantly improved photosynthetic characteristics of wheat flag leaves during grain filling, increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and soluble protein content, reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and delayed the senescence of flag leaves and roots. Compared with other treatments, D2 treatment significantly increased root length, root surface area and root volume in 0-40 cm soil layer. Compared with D1, D3 and D4 treatments, the grain yield of D2 treatment was increased by 11.8%, 2.5%, 6.4% in 2018-2019 and 22.7%, 5.7%, 17.1% in 2019-2020, respectively. In addition, water use efficiency was increased by 9.2%, 8.8%, 14.2% in 2018-2019 and 21.1%, 6.2%, 21.5% in 2019-2020, respectively. The planting density at 180×104 plants·hm-2 improved photosynthetic characteristics of flag leaves and root morphology during filling stage, delayed plant senescence, increased grain number per spike and grain weight. Consequently, the highest grain yield and water use efficiency were obtained under D2 treatment, which was the optimal treatment under the experimental wide-width sowing condition.

Strip rotary tillage with a two-year subsoiling interval enhances root growth and yield in wheat.

Excessive tillage and soil compaction threaten the sustainable farmlands in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plains of China. Our study explores tillage practices to improve soil and root ecology and promote productivity in the winter wheat fields. We tested the impact of plowing, rotary, strip rotary tillage and strip rotary tillage with a two-year subsoiling interval (SRS) on wheat yield and root quality. SRS decreased soil bulk density compared with other treatments, resulting in lower soil penetration resistance. Root morphology and weight density decreased with the increased soil depth and was higher in SRS. Moreover, SRS increased the indoleacetic acid and trans zeatin riboside levels corresponding to greater TTC reduction activities, the total and active absorption root area. SRS increased the superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and soluble protein concentration and decreased the malondialdehyde concentration. The first two factors extracted using 11 root attributes in various soil layers through principal component analysis were selected as the integrated indicators for the minimum data set, and their integrated score was calculated to quantify the root quality. Our study suggests that SRS could significantly improve root morphology and enhance the root activity in subsoil layers, thus, delaying root senescence and increasing winter wheat yield.

[Effects of supplemental irrigation based on soil moisture on photosynthetic characteristics and enzyme activity of flan leaf in wheat].

A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of supplemental irrigation based on soil moisture on the photosynthesis characteristics and enzyme activity of flag leaf using the wheat cultivar Jimai 20. Three irrigation treatments were designed with target soil moisture of 65% (W65), 70% (W70) and 75% (W75) both at jointing and anthesis stages. Zero-irrigation ( CK) was used as the control. The results showed that the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of flag leaf in treatment W70 was dramatically higher than in other treatments from 14 to 21 days after anthesis, as well as sucrose content and sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activity. The dry matter mass per area of W70 was higher than that of W65 and CK, and was not significantly different from that of W75. The single stem mass of W70 was higher than that of the other treatments. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and the soluble protein concentration in flag leaf of W70 were significantly higher than in other treatments from 14 to 28 days after anthesis. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content of W70 was lower than that of W65 and CK, and was not significantly different from that of W75 from 14 to 21 days after anthesis. Grain yields of W70 were 8941.4 and 9125.4 kg · hm⁻² in the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 wheat growing seasons, showing no significant difference with those of W75, but obviously higher than those of W65 and CK. And the water use efficiency (WUE) of W70 was the highest. Considering grain yield and WUE, maintaining the relative soil water content at 70% by supplemental irrigation both at jointing and anthesis stages was the best treatment.

[Effects of field border length for irrigation on photosynthetic characteristics, dry matter accumulation and water use efficiency of wheat].

With the high-yielding winter wheat cultivar Jimai 22 as test material, a three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the effects of border length for irrigation on flag leaf water potential, photosynthetic characteristics, dry matter accumulation and distribution of wheat. In the 2010-2011 growing season, six treatments were installed, i. e., the field border length was designed as 10 m (L10), 20 m (L20), 40 m (L40), 60 m (L60), 80 m (L80) and 100 m (L100). In the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 growing seasons, the field border length was designed as 40 m (L40), 60 m (L60), 80 m (L80) and 100 m (L100). The results showed that the average relative soil water content of the 0-200 cm soil layer was presented as L80, L60>L100>L40>L20>L10 at anthesis in the 2010-2011 growing season and as L80, L60>L100>L40 in the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 growing seasons. At 11 d and 21 d after anthesis, the water potential, net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate of flag leaf were presented as L80, L100>L60>L40>L20, L10, and as L80>L60, L100>L40, L20, L10 at 31 d after anthesis. The coefficients of variability both of the dry matter accumulation at anthesis and maturity and of grain yield in different regions of L80 field were lower than those of L100. The average dry matter accumulation, dry matter accumulation after anthesis and the contribution to grain of L80 were dramatically higher than those of L100, L40, L20 and L10. L80 had the highest average grain yield and water use efficiency, being the best treatment for irrigation in our study.

[Effects of supplemental irrigation based on the measurement of moisture content in different soil layers on the water consumption characteristics and grain yield of winter wheat].

In 2010-2011, a field experiment with high-yielding winter wheat cultivar Jimai 22 was conducted to study the effects of supplemental irrigation based on the measurement of moisture content in different soil layers on the water consumption characteristics and grain yield of winter wheat. Four soil layers (0-20 cm, W1; 0-40 cm, W2; 0-60 cm, W3; and 0-140 cm, W4) were designed to make the supplemental irrigation at wintering stage (target soil relative moisture content = 75%), jointing stage (target soil relative moisture content = 70%), and anthesis stage (target soil relative moisture content = 70%), taking no irrigation (W0) during the whole growth season as the control. At the wintering, jointing, and anthesis stages, the required irrigation amount followed the order of W3 > W2 > W1. Treatment W4 required smaller irrigation amount at wintering and jointing stages, but significantly higher one at anthesis stage than the other treatments. The proportion of the irrigation amount relative to the total water consumption over the entire growth season followed the sequence of W4, W3 > W2 > W1. By contrast, the proportion of soil water consumption relative to the total water consumption followed the trend of W1 > W2 > W3 > W4. With the increase of the test soil depths, the soil water utilization ratio decreased. The water consumption in 80-140 cm and 160-200 cm soil layers was significantly higher in W2 than in W3 and W4. The required total irrigation amount was in the order of W3 > W4 > W2 > W1, the grain yield was in the order of W2, W3, W4 > W1 > W0, and the water use efficiency followed the order of W2, W4 > W0, W1 > W3. To consider the irrigation amount, grain yield, and water use efficiency comprehensively, treatment W2 under our experimental condition could be the optimal treatment, i. e., the required amount of supplemental irrigation based on the measurement of the moisture content in 0-40 cm soil layer should be feasible for the local winter wheat production.

Theory and application for the promotion of wheat production in China: past, present and future.

Food security is becoming a crucial concern worldwide. In this study, we focus on wheat - a staple crop in China - as a model to review its history, status quo and future scenarios, with regard to key production technologies and management practices for wheat production and associated food security issues since the new era in China: the post-1949 era. First, the dominant technologies and management practices over the past 60 years are reviewed. Secondly, we outline several key innovative technologies and their theoretical bases over the last decade, including (i) prohibiting excessively early senescence at a later growth stage to maintain viable leaves with higher photosynthetic capacity, (ii) postponing top dressing nitrogen application to balance carbon and nitrogen nutrition, and (iii) achieving both high yield and better grain quality mainly by increasing soil productivity and balancing the ratio of nutrient elements. Finally, concerns such as water shortages and excessive application of chemical fertilizers are presented. Nevertheless, under high negative conditions, including global warming, rapid population growth, decreasing amounts of arable land, increasing competition with cash crops and severe environmental pollution, we conclude that domestic food production will be able to meet Chinese demand in the mid to long term, because increasingly innovative technologies and improved management practices have been and may continue to be applied appropriately.