Response of growth, yield and water use efficiency of winter wheat to different irrigation methods and scheduling in North China Plain

Abstract The knowledge of suitable irrigation methods coupled with effective irrigation scheduling to improve agricultural water use efficiency has become increasingly necessary for farmers in the North China Plain to ameliorate the severe water shortage that has threatened winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L) production. A two-season field experiment was conducted in a winter wheat field amide to compare the efficiency of three irrigation methods sprinkler irrigation (SI), surface drip irrigation (SDI) and flood irrigation (FI) under three irrigation schedules by irrigating while soil moisture decreased to 70%, 60% and 50% of the field capacity respectively. It was found that irrigation methods with suitable irrigation scheduling indeed have the potential to balance the optimal yield and water use efficiency. The results showed that irrigating 180.3 mm and 175.2 mm of water in the two studied seasons respectively was optimal to achieve the highest grain yield. For SDI and SI, this could be achieved by irrigating six times each with 30 mm of water, while for FI irrigating three times each with 60 mm of water gave comparable results. Our studies suggested that irrigating while soil moisture reduced to 60% of the field capacity by SDI was the best in all aspects compared with other irrigation methods and irrigation schedules.