Increasing Planting Density and Optimizing Irrigation to Improve Maize Yield and Water-Use Efficiency in Northeast China
Dongping Shen,
Keru Wang,
Linli Zhou,
Liang Fang,
Zhen Wang,
Jiale Fu,
Tingting Zhang,
Zhongyu Liang,
Ruizhi Xie,
Bo Ming,
Peng Hou,
Jun Xue,
Jianmin Li,
Xiaojun Kang,
Guoqiang Zhang,
Shaokun Li
Affiliations
Dongping Shen
Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Keru Wang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Linli Zhou
Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Liang Fang
Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Zhen Wang
Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Jiale Fu
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Tingting Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Zhongyu Liang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Ruizhi Xie
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Bo Ming
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Peng Hou
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Jun Xue
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Jianmin Li
Tongliao Agro-Technical Extension Center, Tongliao 028000, China
Xiaojun Kang
Tongliao Agro-Technical Extension Center, Tongliao 028000, China
Guoqiang Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Shaokun Li
Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-Agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, College of Agronomy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
We investigated the effects of variety, planting density, and irrigation amount on grain yield, water-use efficiency (WUE), and evapotranspiration (ETc). The trial was conducted in Tong Liao, Inner Mongolia, from 2021 to 2022, with compact variety Dika159 (DK159) and conventional variety Zhengdan958 (ZD958) as the test materials. The planting density was set to 6.0 × 104 plants/ha (D1, local farmer planting density) and 9.0 × 104 plants/ha (D2), with five irrigation levels: 450 mm (W450, irrigation amount used by local farmers, CK); 360 mm (W360); 270 mm (W270); 180 mm (W180); and 90 mm (W90). The results indicate that the yield and WUE of variety DK159 increased by 7.48% and 5.00%, compared to ZD958, respectively. Increasing planting density enhanced yield by 13.32–15.57% in maize yield and 9.55–11.47% in WUE. Maize yield exhibited a trend of increasing linearly with the irrigation amount before reaching a plateau, reaching a maximum (16.62–17.39 t/ha) and high WUE (2.45–2.49 kg/m3) with DK159-D2-W270. The highest water consumption intensity occurred during the silking stage to the milk stage for different densities and varieties. The results indicate that selecting compact varieties, increasing planting density, and optimizing irrigation amount through integrated drip irrigation and water fertilizer can effectively improve maize yield and WUE.
