“…This is especially the case in semi-arid areas such as the Ningxia province field site where there is a large amount of evaporation. Previous studies have indicated that use of the RFRH system with crops planted at a medium density (65,000 plants ha −1 ) can modify maize water consumption, increase biomass, and convert soil water evaporation into crop transpiration, thereby enhancing the maize production, SWS and WUE 36 . It has been reported that grain yield is positively correlated with ET rate 37 .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The stable soil water content is 50–75% of the field capacity for loessial soil, and we considered an intermediate value (63% of the holding capacity = 12%) for our comparisons. Thus, the stable soil water storage is 321.6 mm 36 . Characteristics of the soil from 0–60 cm in depth at the research site are shown in Table 3.Figure 6Monthly rainfall in 2015, 2016 and 2006–2016 (11 year average) at Pengyang Experimental Station, Ningxia Province, China.
…”
Field research was done in two consecutive years to optimize deficit irrigation under different crop densities (low, medium, and high) using the ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting (RFRH) system. We demonstrate that applying deficit irrigation (375 m3 ha−1) at the flowering stage of maize grown at medium density (M: 75000 plant ha−1) under the RFRH system (MIF) can improve soil water storage (0–200 cm) at the bell, filling and flowering stages. MIF increased biomass by 10% and grain yield by 21%, thereby achieving a 17% increase in water use efficiency (WUE) and a 22% increase in precipitation use efficiency (PUE) compared with conventional flat planting (CKM). MIF also improved irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (9%) and irrigation water productivity (IWP) (46%) compared with no-irrigation under the RFRH system (MI0). We observed that applying deficit irrigation (750 m3 ha−1) at the bell and flowering stage (IBF) had positive effects on dry matter, leaf area, and evapotranspiration, but there were no significant increases in IWUE, IWP, WUE, biomass and grain yield compared with maize grown under IF at low, medium and high plant densities. The average net profit over the two years was 34% higher for MIF compared with the CKM treatment.
“…This is especially the case in semi-arid areas such as the Ningxia province field site where there is a large amount of evaporation. Previous studies have indicated that use of the RFRH system with crops planted at a medium density (65,000 plants ha −1 ) can modify maize water consumption, increase biomass, and convert soil water evaporation into crop transpiration, thereby enhancing the maize production, SWS and WUE 36 . It has been reported that grain yield is positively correlated with ET rate 37 .…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The stable soil water content is 50–75% of the field capacity for loessial soil, and we considered an intermediate value (63% of the holding capacity = 12%) for our comparisons. Thus, the stable soil water storage is 321.6 mm 36 . Characteristics of the soil from 0–60 cm in depth at the research site are shown in Table 3.Figure 6Monthly rainfall in 2015, 2016 and 2006–2016 (11 year average) at Pengyang Experimental Station, Ningxia Province, China.
…”
Field research was done in two consecutive years to optimize deficit irrigation under different crop densities (low, medium, and high) using the ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting (RFRH) system. We demonstrate that applying deficit irrigation (375 m3 ha−1) at the flowering stage of maize grown at medium density (M: 75000 plant ha−1) under the RFRH system (MIF) can improve soil water storage (0–200 cm) at the bell, filling and flowering stages. MIF increased biomass by 10% and grain yield by 21%, thereby achieving a 17% increase in water use efficiency (WUE) and a 22% increase in precipitation use efficiency (PUE) compared with conventional flat planting (CKM). MIF also improved irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (9%) and irrigation water productivity (IWP) (46%) compared with no-irrigation under the RFRH system (MI0). We observed that applying deficit irrigation (750 m3 ha−1) at the bell and flowering stage (IBF) had positive effects on dry matter, leaf area, and evapotranspiration, but there were no significant increases in IWUE, IWP, WUE, biomass and grain yield compared with maize grown under IF at low, medium and high plant densities. The average net profit over the two years was 34% higher for MIF compared with the CKM treatment.
“…where WC i (mm) is WC at various maize growing stages and WC t (mm) is the total WC. Meanwhile, the calculation equations of WC i and WC t are as follows (Lian et al, 2016):…”
Section: Crop Water Consumption Characteristicsmentioning
Plastic is a valuable mulching measure for increasing crop productivity in arid environments; however, little is known about the main mechanism by which this valuable technology actuates spatial–temporal changes in soil hydrothermal effect. So a 3-year field experiment was conducted to optimize soil hydrothermal effect of maize field with three plastic mulched management treatments: (1) no tillage with plastic re-mulching (NM), (2) reduced tillage with plastic mulching (RM), and (3) conventional tillage with annual new plastic mulching (CM). The results showed that NM treatment increased soil water content by 6.6–8.4% from maize sowing to seedling stage, than did CM, and it created a good soil moisture environment for sowing of maize. Also, NM had greater soil water content by 4.8–5.6% from maize silking to early-filling stage than had CM, and it made up for the abundant demand of soil moisture for the vigorous growth of maize filling stage. The NM treatment increased water consumption (WC) before maize big-flare stage, decreased WC from big-flare to early-filling stage, and increased WC after early-filling stage. So NM treatment effectively coordinated water demand contradiction of maize at entire growing season. NM decreased soil accumulated temperature (SAT) by 7.0–13.0% at maize sowing to early-filling stage than did CM, but NM had little influence on the SAT during filling stage. In particular, the treatment on NM had smaller absolute values of air–soil temperature differences than RM and CM treatments during maize filling stage, indicating that NM treatment maintains the relative stability of soil temperature for ensuring grain filling of maize. The NM treatment allowed the maize to grow in a suitable hydrothermal status and still maintained high yield. In addition, NM treatment obtained higher net income and rate of return by 6.4–11.0% and 44.1–54.5%, respectively, than did CM, because NM treatment mainly decreased the input costs for plastic and machine operations. Therefore, the NM treatment can be recommended as a promising technique to overcome simultaneous heat stress and water shortage in arid environments.
“…3, 4 and 7), in-dicating the advantages of furrow planting over flat pattern with no zeolite application in dryland farming conditions. Several studies have shown that furrow sowing in dryland conditions has many benefits such as easily shedding of rain from ridges, accumulation of runoff in furrows, infiltration of rainwater below the furrow and better access of plant roots to sub-soil water (Yang et al, 1996;Feng et al, 2001;Ren et al, 2010;Roper et al, 2015) and improvement in growth and yield of various crops under furrow sowing compared with flat planting has been declared in many reports (Blackwell, 1993;Wang et al, 2011;Quanqi et al, 2012;Lian et al, 2016;Li et al, 2018).…”
<p>Adopting an appropriate planting method and application of soil amendments such as zeolite in dryland conditions could be highly effective in improving growth and productivity of crop plants. Therefore the response of two chickpea (<em>Cicer arietinum</em> L.) genotypes (Azad and Adel) to two planting methods (flat and furrow patterns) and different rates of zeolite (0, 10 and 20 t ha<sup>-1</sup>) was examined in a field study under dryland conditions. Zeolite application increased plant height, pods number/plant and seed yield, under flat planting pattern, while in furrow pattern, chickpea yield decreased with the application of zeolite. Under no zeolite condition, sowing in furrows improved plant height and pods number compared with flat sowing. Zeolite had no effect on Azad cultivar, but the pods number/plant of Adel was significantly increased by applying 20 t ha<sup>-1</sup> zeolite compared with control. In general, the best result in terms of crop growth and yield was obtained from applying 20 t ha<sup>-1</sup> zeolite in flat planting pattern. Positive response of the plant to zeolite application in flat planting pattern and, on the other hand, the yield reduction resulting from zeolite addition in furrow planting condition suggested that the influence of zeolite on the crop was dependent on planting method.</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
