Role of tillage measures in mitigating waterlogging damage in rapeseed

Abstract

Background Tillage measures have been effectively adopted for mitigating waterlogging damage in field crops, yet little is known about the role of tillage measures in crop responses to waterlogging. A field experiment was performed to investigate the effect of conventional planting (CK), small ridge planting (SR), big ridge planting (BR) and film side planting (FS) on soil available nutrients and enzymatic activity, chlorophyll contents, leaf nutrients, soluble protein, soluble sugar, nitrate reductase, antioxidant enzyme activity, lipid peroxidation, agronomic traits and yield of rapeseed under waterlogging stress conditions. Results Tillage measures remarkably improved rapeseed growth and yield parameters under waterlogging stress conditions. Under waterlogging conditions, rapeseed yield was significantly increased by 33.09 and 22.70% in the SR and BR groups, respectively, compared with CK. Correlation analysis showed that NO3−-N, NH4+-N, and urease in soils and malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and nitrate reductase in roots were the key factors affecting rapeseed yield. The SR and BR groups had significantly increased NO3−-N by 180.30 and 139.77%, NH4+-N by 115.78 and 66.59%, urease by 41.27 and 26.45%, SOD by 6.64 and 4.66%, nitrate reductase by 71.67 and 26.67%, and significantly decreased MDA content by 14.81 and 13.35% under waterlogging stress, respectively, compared with CK. In addition, chlorophyll and N content in leaves, soluble sugar and POD in roots, and most agronomic traits were also significantly enhanced in response to SR and BR under waterlogging conditions. Conclusion Overall, SR and BR mitigated the waterlogging damage in rapeseed mainly by reducing the loss of soil available nitrogen, decreasing the MDA content in roots, and promoting urease in soils and SOD and nitrate reductase in roots. Finally, thorough assessment of rapeseed parameters indicated that SR treatment was most effective followed by BR treatment, to alleviate the adverse effects of waterlogging stress.

Effects of Fertilization Patterns on the Growth of Rapeseed Seedlings and Rhizosphere Microorganisms under Flooding Stress

“…The rapeseed production areas in the Yangtze River Basin have more rainfall in spring and autumn, which often leads to higher soil viscosity and poor ventilation for rapeseed growth due to the previous crop of rice. Coupled with the high groundwater level caused by previous crops, waterlogging is extremely prone to occur [1][2][3][4].…”

Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the Plant Cysteine Oxidase (PCO) Gene Family in Brassica napus and Its Role in Abiotic Stress Response

“…Rapeseed is mainly distributed in the Yangtze River basin in China and waterlogging, caused by the rainy and humid climate in this region, is a common abiotic stress affecting rapeseed production. The oxygen availability in waterlogging soil is greatly limited and the yield of rapeseed could decrease by 17-42% due to waterlogging stress in China [23]. Research on genetics, evolution and stress response of rapeseed is a good way to improve the quality and yield of rapeseed [24][25][26][27][28].…”