Strip rotary tillage with a two-year subsoiling interval enhances root growth and yield in wheat

Abstract

Excessive tillage and soil compaction threaten the sustainable farmlands in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plains of China. Our study explores tillage practices to improve soil and root ecology and promote productivity in the winter wheat fields. We tested the impact of plowing, rotary, strip rotary tillage and strip rotary tillage with a two-year subsoiling interval (SRS) on wheat yield and root quality. SRS decreased soil bulk density compared with other treatments, resulting in lower soil penetration resistance. Root morphology and weight density decreased with the increased soil depth and was higher in SRS. Moreover, SRS increased the indoleacetic acid and trans zeatin riboside levels corresponding to greater TTC reduction activities, the total and active absorption root area. SRS increased the superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and soluble protein concentration and decreased the malondialdehyde concentration. The first two factors extracted using 11 root attributes in various soil layers through principal component analysis were selected as the integrated indicators for the minimum data set, and their integrated score was calculated to quantify the root quality. Our study suggests that SRS could significantly improve root morphology and enhance the root activity in subsoil layers, thus, delaying root senescence and increasing winter wheat yield.

Winter Wheat and Spring Barley Canopies under Strip-Till One-Pass Technology

“…The authors' previous studies found that replacing reduced, ploughless tillage and row sowing with ST-OP increased the winter barley yield by 6.4-7.7% [45], and the winter wheat yield by 6.1-10.4% [46]. The results of studies by other authors also show that strip-till may increase wheat yields as compared to other cultivation methods [47,48]. The high cereal yields may derive from the beneficial effect that strip-tillage has on soil properties, a border effect, and the microclimate in the canopy.…”

Soil Nitrate Nitrogen Content and Grain Yields of Organically Grown Cereals as Affected by a Strip Tillage and Forage Legume Intercropping

“…Winter wheat and forage legumes, as well as other plants and soil microorganisms, compete for soil nitrogen. Applying no-tillage or reduced tillage methods increases soil density, and reduces aeration and water supply [ 41 ], resulting in the slow mineralization of plant residues.…”

“…By reducing tillage intensity, nitrogen is released at later stages of crop growth during the growing season [ 21 , 47 ]. In addition, the development and depth of penetration of the main crop roots is also determined by tillage [ 41 ]. Our studies (Assessment 3) showed that in most cases higher N-NO 3 levels remained after ploughing-in forage legumes.…”

Differences in Water Consumption of Wheat Varieties Are Affected by Root Morphology Characteristics and Post-anthesis Root Senescence

“…Root samples were collected and refrigerated at −80 • C. Half of the root samples were used to measure root length, root surface area, and root diameter measurements using an Epson V700 scanner (Seiko Epson Corp., Japan) and WinRHIZO 2013 software (Regent Instruments Canada Inc., Canada). Root length density and root surface area density were calculated according to He et al (2019). The remaining root samples were used for the measurements of root malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and root activity.…”