Water Use Strategies and Shoot and Root Traits of High-Yielding Winter Wheat Cultivars under Different Water Supply Conditions
Qin Fang,
Hongyan Zhang,
Jianning He,
Haoran Li,
Hongguang Wang,
Dongxiao Li,
Xiaokang Lv,
Ruiqi Li
Affiliations
Qin Fang
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Hongyan Zhang
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Jianning He
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Haoran Li
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Hongguang Wang
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Dongxiao Li
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Xiaokang Lv
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Ruiqi Li
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Key Laboratory of Water-Saving Agriculture in North China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Drought is the most important factor limiting winter wheat yield in the North China Plain (NCP). Choosing high-yielding cultivars is an important measure to minimize the negative effects of drought stress. Field studies were conducted with 10 cultivars in the 2020–2022 seasons under three irrigation treatments (I0, without irrigation; I1, irrigated at jointing stage; I2, irrigated at jointing and anthesis stages) in the NCP to examine the water use strategies and root and shoot traits of high-yielding cultivars under different water supply conditions. The results showed that yield variation among cultivars was 21.2–24.6%, 23.7–25.9% and 11.6–15.3% for the I0, I1 and I2 treatments, respectively. Under water deficit conditions (I0 and I1), high-yielding cultivars reduced water use during vegetative stages and increased soil water use during reproductive stages, especially water use from deeper soil layers. Those cultivars with higher root length density (RLD) in deep soil layers exhibited higher water uptake. Each additional millimeter of water used after anthesis from the 100–200 cm soil layers increased grain yield by 23.6–29.6 kg/ha and 16.4–28.5 kg/ha under I0 and I1, respectively. This water use strategy enhanced dry matter accumulation after anthesis, decreased canopy temperature (CT) and increased relative leaf water contents (RLWC), which ultimately improved grain yield. For winter wheat grown under I2, cultivars that decreased water use after anthesis had higher water productivity (WP). Root length (RL), root weight (RW) and root:shoot ratio were each negatively correlated with grain yield, while above-ground biomass was positively correlated with grain yield. Therefore, higher dry matter accumulation and smaller root systems are two important traits of high-yielding cultivars under sufficient water supply conditions (I2) in the NCP.
