Comparison of soil water consumption characteristics between drought-resistant and water-liking wheat varieties

Two types of winter wheat variety, Han5316 as a drought-resistant variety and Han3475 as a water-liking variety, were used to study the characteristics of soil water consumption and the dynamics of root growing. The results showed that the root system of Han5316 was more flourished than that of Han3475. Under the condition of irrigating 75 mm in spring, the total root weight of Han5316 was 0.33 g in 0~200 cm soil profile, the root weight in 50~200 cm soil profile was 22% of total weight in the later growing period, and the root length density in 50~200 cm soil profile was 56.3% of total root length density; meanwhile those of the water-liking variety were 0.25 g, 19.4% and 52.1% respectively. The flourishing root system made the drought-resistant wheat variety utilize the soil water fully at all layers of soil profile especially at the layer under 1m. The total soil water consumption of the drought-resistant variety was 115% that of the water-liking variety under the condition of irrigating 75 mm, and 190% that of the former variety under the condition of irrigating 225 mm. However, the soil water consumption of the drought-resistant variety was disadvantageous to the sowing and early growth of summer corn.