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Yield, water productivity and economic return of dryland wheat in the Loess Plateau in response to conservation tillage practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2017

Z. LI ,
Q. ZHANG ,
Q. YANG ,
X. YANG ,
J. LI ,
S. CUI  and
Y. SHEN
Z. LI
Affiliation:
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou 730020, China
Q. ZHANG
Affiliation:
Shandong Institute of Agricultural Sustainable Development, Jinan 250100, PR China
Q. YANG
Affiliation:
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou 730020, China
X. YANG
Affiliation:
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou 730020, China
J. LI
Affiliation:
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou 730020, China
S. CUI
Affiliation:
School of Agribusiness and Agriscience, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Y. SHEN*
Affiliation:
College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou 730020, China
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: yy.shen@lzu.edu.cn
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Summary

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production on the Loess Plateau in China has been threatened by water scarcity and climate change during the last decade. Sustainable crop production in this region requires managerial practices that can provide high yield and high water productivity (WP). A 7-year (2001–2008) study at the Loess Plateau Research Station of Lanzhou University investigated the effects of various conservation tillage practices on grain yield, soil water content (SWC), WP and economic return of winter wheat production. Tillage treatments included: conventional tillage (T), conventional tillage followed by stubble retention (TS), no-till (NT) and no-till followed by stubble retention (NTS). Over the entire experimental period, grain yield and WP of winter wheat ranged from 1279 to 4894 kg/ha and 0·32 to 2·41 kg/m3, respectively. Both were significantly affected by tillage treatment and year, while SWC was only affected by year. Grain yield and WP in TS was increased by 4·9, 12·1, 0·9% and 13·7, 20·4 and 3·9% compared with NTS, NT and T, respectively, over seven growing seasons. Additionally, a multiple linear regression analysis indicated that grain yield is mainly limited by SWC during planting. Despite its lower grain yield, the NTS treatment increased economic benefit by US$ 328, US$ 23 and US$ 87/ha compared with TS, NT and T, respectively. Therefore, it is suggested that increasing soil water storage at wheat sowing time and encouraging the use of NTS could improve economic returns in this region.

Type
Crops and Soils Research Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 155 , Issue 8 , October 2017 , pp. 1272 - 1286
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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