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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.

SUBMITTER: He J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6691134 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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

He Jianning J Shi Yu Y Zhao Junye J Yu Zhenwen Z

Scientific reports 20190812 1

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 res ...[more]

PMID: 31406270

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Project description:Soil rotational tillage is an effective measure to overcome the problems caused by long-term of a single tillage, but the effect of the interval time of rotational tillage practices is not very well understood. Therefore, we conducted a 3-year field study in a wheat-maize cropping system to evaluate the effects of rotary tillage (RT) in rotation with plowing tillage (PT) on soil properties in northern China. Four practices were designed as follows: 3 years of RT to a depth of 10-15 cm (3RT), 3 years of PT to a depth of 30-35 cm (3PT), 1 year of PT followed by 2 years of RT (PT+2RT), and 2 years of PT followed by 1 year of RT (2PT+RT). Within 20 cm of the surface soil, the 3RT treatment significantly increased the soil quality index (SQI) by 6.0%, 8.8% and 13.1%, respectively, relative to the PT+2RT, 2PT+RT and 3PT treatments. The improvement was closely related to the significant increase in the soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nutrients concentrations in the 0-20 cm depths and the improvement of soil invertase, urease, alkaline phosphatase and catalase activities in the topsoil (0-10 cm). However, the opposite effects were observed in the subsoil (20-40 cm). Compared with the 3RT treatment, the 3PT, 2PT+RT and PT+2RT treatments decreased soil bulk density, and significantly enhanced enzyme activities, resulting in an increase in SQI of 32.6%, 24.4% and 0.7%, respectively, especially in the 3PT and 2PT+RT treatments, the difference was significant. When averaged across to all soil depths, the SQI under the 3RT and 2PT+RT treatments was much higher than that under the other treatments. The yields of wheat and maize under the 2PT+RT treatment were 15.0% and 14.3% higher than those under the 3RT treatment, respectively. The 2PT+RT treatment was the most effective tillage practice. These results suggest that RT in rotation with PT could improve soil quality in the soil profile whilst enhancing crop yield after continuous RT, and the benefits were enhanced with an interval time of one year. Therefore, the 2PT+RT treatment could act as an effective method for both soil quality and crop yield improvement in a wheat-maize cropping system under straw incorporation conditions.

Project description:Background and aimsPlant roots growing underground are critical for soil resource acquisition, anchorage and plant-environment interactions. In wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), however, the target root traits to improve yield potential still remain largely unknown. This study aimed to identify traits of seedling root system architecture (RSA) associated with yield and yield components in 226 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between the bread wheat Triticum aestivum 'Forno' (small, wide root system) and spelt Triticum spelta 'Oberkulmer' (large, narrow root system).MethodsA 'pouch and wick' high-throughput phenotyping pipeline was used to determine the RSA traits of 13-day-old RIL seedlings. Two field experiments and one glasshouse experiment were carried out to investigate the yield, yield components and phenology, followed by identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs).Key resultsThere was substantial variation in RSA traits between genotypes. Seminal root number and total root length were both positively associated with grains m -2 , grains per spike, above-ground biomass m -2 and grain yield. More seminal roots and longer total root length were also associated with delayed maturity and extended grain filling, likely to be a consequence of more grains being defined before anthesis. Additionally, the maximum width of the root system displayed positive relationships with spikes m -2 , grains m -2 and grain yield. Ten RILs selected for the longest total roots exhibited the same effects on yield and phenology as described above, compared with the ten lines with the shortest total roots. Genetic analysis revealed 38 QTLs for the RSA, and QTL coincidence between the root and yield traits was frequently observed, indicating tightly linked genes or pleiotropy, which concurs with the results of phenotypic correlation analysis.ConclusionsBased on the results from the Forno × Oberkulmer population, it is proposed that vigorous early root growth, particularly more seminal roots and longer total root length, is important to improve yield potential, and should be incorporated into wheat ideotypes in breeding.

Project description:Whole-crop wheat (Triticum aestivum, WCW) has a high nutritional value and digestibility. No-tillage (NT) can reduces energy and labor inputs in the agricultural production process, thus decreasing production costs. There are many studies on planting techniques of WCW at present, few being on no-tillage planting. This study aimed to compare the effects of different tillage methods and maturity stages on the yield, nutritive value, and silage fermentation quality of WCW. The experiment included two tillage methods (NT; conventional tillage, CT), two maturity stages (flowering stage; milk stage), and three years (2016-2017; 2017-2018; 2018-2019). Years had a strong influence on the yield and nutritional composition of WCW. This was mainly related to the amount of rainfall, as it affects the seedling emergence rate of wheat. Although tillage methods showed no significant effects on the yield, plant height, and stem number per plant of WCW (P > 0.05), compared to CT, the dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) yields of NT decreased by 0.74 t/ha and 0.13 t/ha. Tillage methods showed no significant effects on the nutritive composition of WCW (P > 0.05). The WCW at the milk stage had greater DM (5.25 t/ha) and CP (0.60 t/ha) yields than that at the flowering stage (3.19 t/ha and 0.39 t/ha) (P< 0.05). The acid detergent fiber concentration of WCW decreased by 34.5% from the flowering to the milk stage, whereas water-soluble carbohydrates concentration increased by 50.6%. The CP concentration at the milk stage was lower than that at the flowering stage (P< 0.05). The lactic acid concentration of NT (17.1 g/kg DM) silage was lower than that of CT (26.6 g/kg DM) silage (P< 0.05). The WCW silage at the milk stage had a lower NH3-N concentration (125 g/kg TN) than that at the flowering stage (169 g/kg TN) (P< 0.05). Wheat sown by NT and CT was of similar yield and nutritional value, irrespective of harvest stages. WCW harvested at the milk stage had greater yield and better nutritional composition and silage fermentation quality than that at the flowering stage. Based upon the results of the membership function analysis, no-tillage sowing of wheat was feasible and harvesting at milk stage was recommended.

Project description:In lime concretion black soil, a two-factor (tillage and irrigation) split block experiment from 2015 to 2017 was conducted to identify whether their combination is suitable for the improvement of winter wheat yield and water use efficiency. The main treatments were subsoiling (SS) and rotary tillage (RT), with secondary treatments of three irrigation regimes: no irrigation during the whole growth period (W0), irrigation at jointing stage (W1), and irrigation at both jointing and anthesis stages (W2). In combination with a soil column experiment, the contribution of the root system in different soil layers to yield was clarified. The results indicated that both tillage and irrigation significantly influenced the spatiotemporal distributions of the root systems and yield components, while tillage produced the strongest effect. Compared with RT, SS significantly promoted the root penetration and delayed root senescence in deep soil layers. With increasing soil depth, each root configuration parameter (dry root weight density, DRWD; root length density, RLD; root surface area per unit area, RSA; root volume per unit area, RV) gradually decreased, and the peak appearance times of each root parameter in RT and three parameters (RLD, RSA and RV) in SS were postponed from heading to anthesis and from anthesis to filling stage, respectively. The average post-peak attenuation values at soil layers from 60 to 100 cm in W1 were less than those in W0 and W2. SSW1 generated the highest grain yields, with an average increase of 31.88% compared with the yield in RTW0. Root systems at three soil layers (0-40 cm, 40-80 cm and below 80 cm) differentially contributed to grain yields with 78.32%, 12.09% and 9.59%, respectively. The growth peak of the deep root system in SSW1 was postponed to the filling stage, and the post-peak attenuation declining rates were also slowed. Therefore, SSW1 is an effective cultivation method improving grain yields and water use efficiency in lime concretion black soil.

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

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

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