Interpreting Variety–Location–Fertilizer Interactions to Enhance Foxtail Millet Productivity in Northern China
Jihan Cui,
Xueyan Xia,
Yu Zhao,
Meng Liu,
Nuoya Xiao,
Shuai Guo,
Yiwei Lu,
Junxia Li,
Zhimin Wei,
Fangchao Gao,
Ping Yang,
Shunguo Li
Affiliations
Jihan Cui
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Xueyan Xia
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Yu Zhao
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Meng Liu
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Nuoya Xiao
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Shuai Guo
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Yiwei Lu
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Junxia Li
Cereal Crops Institute, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Zhimin Wei
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Fangchao Gao
National Engineering Laboratory for Crop Molecular Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Ping Yang
Shandong Zibo Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zibo 255033, China
Shunguo Li
Hebei Coarse Grain Research Laboratory, National Millet Improvement Center, Millet Research Institute, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) is an important traditional cereal crop in dryland ecological agriculture in China and is widely grown in India, the United States, and Nigeria. It is of significance to understand the variety–location–fertilizer (V–L–F) interaction for highly efficient production. Therefore, a two-year field experiment was conducted with six varieties in five locations, and data were analyzed by combined ANOVA analysis, redundancy analysis (RDA), and additive main multiplicative interaction (AMMI). The results showed that the mean sum of squares was significantly different among years, locations, varieties, fertilizations, and their interactions, except for Y–V and V–F interactions. The contributions of various factors to yield variation varied, location was the largest contributor (38.7%), followed by year (33.6%), and variety and fertilizer contributed 7.1% and 3.2%, respectively. JI25 was widely adapted, and its yield was stable and higher than that of others over diverse environments in two years. The RDA results showed that two principal components explained more than 66.1% of the yield variance, while more than 63.0% of the variances were clustered in the first factor. Excessive single rainfall or total rainfall and air temperature (especially minimum temperature) were significantly associated with the millet yield. The results offered an important reference for variety layout, natural resource potential mining, and formulation of efficient green cultural practices.
