Broadcasting Winter Wheat Can Increase Grain Yield without Reducing the Kernels per Spike and the Kernel Weight

Abstract

In North China, row spacing is the most common planting pattern used for winter wheat. Currently, there are three sowing and tillage methods for row spacing: rotary tillage sowing with straw return (RTS), subsoil tillage sowing with straw return (DTS), and no-tillage sowing with straw return (NTS). Recently, Hao proposed a new sowing pattern called uniform broadcast sowing with straw return (BSS) which could increase winter wheat yield. In this research, a field experiment was conducted during the growing seasons in 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. The winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Jimai 22 was sowed with the four seeding and tillage methods—RTS, DTS, NTS, and BSS—at the China Agriculture University Wuqiao experimental station in the North China Plain. After tillage sowing and determining the sowing efficiency, the effective cover ratio of the seeds was measured, and the emergence ratio was calculated after emergence. In the two growing seasons, the growth and development stages were recorded. The dry matter accumulation (DMA), the yield, and the yield components (spikes per hectare, kernels per spike, and kernel weight) were also determined. We also measured the canopy structure leaf area index (LAI) and the stand uniformity. The results showed that BSS had the lowest emergence rate and lowest plant stands when compared with the other treatments. However, BSS had the highest grain yield at 7599.0 kg·ha−1 and 9763.3 kg·ha−1, which was 11.55, 16.17, 20.16% and 13.01, 15.68, 21.88% higher than DTS, RTS, and NTS in the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 growing seasons, respectively. The improved grain yield of BSS was due to the increased productive tillers per hectometer-squared, which was attributed to the higher stand uniformity. More importantly, the increased tillers per hectare and grain yield were not accompanied by a reduction in grain number per spike or grain weight. The stand uniformity could facilitate canopy construction and population architecture and result in more even sunlight distribution, increased leaf area index (LAI) and sunlight interception, and enhanced photosynthetic activity. The stand uniformity also could increase both the pre-anthesis and post-anthesis DMA and promote the harvest index (HI). This study indicates that BSS is the most suitable sowing method for winter wheat production in North China.

Delayed sowing and its ramifications: biophysical, yield and quality analysis of wheat cultivars in the northwest Indo‐Gangetic plains

“…1). Delayed wheat sowing has been reported to hamper the initiation of both leaf and spikelet primordia, primarily due to water, nutrient and assimilate deficiencies, coupled with an overall shortened vegetative phase 40,41 . The reduction in the vegetative growth period, heads per square meter and LAI further elucidate the substantial decrease in yield components and final yield under delayed sowing (LS and VLS).…”

An Agronomic Efficiency Analysis of Winter Wheat at Different Sowing Strategies and Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates: A Case Study in Northeastern Poland

“…The grain yield of winter wheat is determined mainly by the number of spikes m −2 and, to a smaller extent, by the number of grains spike −1 and TGW [68][69][70]. Delayed sowing can potentially decrease the number of productive shoots and spikelet buds due to a lower number of leaves per unit area and a low leaf area index (LAI) [71][72][73][74]. In addition, delayed sowing shifts the phenological stages of winter wheat to periods with higher temperatures, which can induce considerable differences in grain formation (grains spike −1 and TGW) [75].…”

Effects of straw return and straw biochar on soil properties and crop growth: A review

“…In addition, Wang et al (2019) found that ploughing is a more suitable method of straw return (3.2 t•ha -1 ) than straw mulching in the rape-rice rotation pattern. According to a new planting pattern known as "broadcast sowing with straw return" has been adopted, grain yield improved without decreasing grains per spike and the 1000-grain weight (Zhai et al, 2018). Furthermore, straw return decreased the impact of higher grain yield by the co-application of mineral fertilizer or NPK fertilizer (Table S3).…”