Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 312-321.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.01.30

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Effects of conservation tillage on the water storage, moisture conservation, and yield of dry-land wheat fields of central Gansu Province

QI Xiaoping(),LI Guang(),YUAN Jianyu,CHANG Haigang   

  1. College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
  • Received:2021-09-06 Revised:2021-10-13 Online:2022-01-15 Published:2022-01-24
  • Contact: Guang LI E-mail:494507619@qq.com;lig@gsau.edu.cn

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of conservation tillage on water storage, moisture conservation, and yield in dry-land wheat fields in the Loess Plateau of central Gansu province. Based on field experiments for five consecutive years, the effects of different tillage measures [traditional tillage (T), straw mulching (TS), no tillage (NT), and no tillage with straw mulching (NTS)] on the moisture-storage rate in the leisure period, water-use efficiency, dry matter accumulation and transport, yield, and agronomic characteristics of spring wheat in a farming cycle from August 2019 to August 2020 were analyzed. The results were as follows. (1) Compared with treatment T, the NTS treatment increased the soil bulk-density and water content in the plow layer, increased the soil water storage during the sowing and harvest periods in a dry-land wheat field, increased the water-use efficiency by 48.18%, and increased the moisture-storage rate in the leisure period by 5.70%. (2) The NTS treatment significantly increased the leaf area index and delayed the leaf senescence of spring wheat. Compared with the TS and NT treatments, the dry matter accumulation after anthesis under the NTS treatment increased by 67.38% and 32.14%, respectively, whereas the contribution rate of the dry matter after anthesis increased by 12.47% and 6.61%, respectively. (3) The NTS treatment optimized the yield components and significantly increased the yield of spring wheat to 3243.30 kg∙hm-2, which was 49.32% higher than the yield of traditional tillage (T). In addition, the NTS treatment improved the population structure of spring wheat, as well as significantly increasing its root dry-weight, plant height, and biomass, while reducing its root-shoot ratio. Correlation analysis showed that the increased water-use efficiency, leaf area index, and root dry-weight were important factors in the increase of wheat yield. In conclusion, under the conditions of this experiment, NTS mulching was the optimal tillage treatment in terms of saving water and increasing the yield of dry-land wheat fields in the Loess Plateau of central Gansu province. Thus, it may be worthwhile popularizing and applying the treatment in this area.

Key words: Loess Plateau in central Gansu Province, dry-land wheat fields, conservation tillage, spring wheat, water use efficiency, yield, dry matter accumulation and transportation