A high-yield and high-efficiency cultivation pattern of winter wheat in North China Plain: High-low seedbed cultivation

Traditional cultivation pattern (TC) of winter wheat has shortages of insufficient land utilization and low water and nitrogen use efficiency, which restrict the sustainability of wheat production in the North China Plain (NCP). A new planting pattern of high-low seedbed cultivation (HLSC) was developed to increase land utilization rate and wheat productivity. However, the mechanisms of grain yield and water-nitrogen use efficiency increase under the HLSC pattern are not well understood. Therefore, we conducted a three-year (2017–2020) field experiment to explore the effects of cultivation patterns on the distribution of soil water and nitrite, plant growth, grain yield, and water-nitrogen use efficiency under different irrigation levels by employing TC and HLSC patterns. Results showed that the HLSC pattern significantly promoted grain yield, water use efficiency of grain (WUEG), and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of winter wheat under different irrigation levels. Across three irrigation levels, HLSC significantly increased grain yield by 22.63%, 10.30%, and 9.96% in the three seasons, respectively, compared to TC. The higher grain yield under HLSC was ascribed mainly to the increases in effective spike number, which produced more LAI and aboveground biomass. Although wheat under HLSC consumed more water, the WUEG across irrigation levels under HLSC was 6.77%, 2.38%, and 4.28% higher than those under TC for the three seasons, due to the reduction of ineffective soil surface evaporation under HLSC. Moreover, HLSC stimulated roots to uptake more water stored in the subsoil layer, which was conducive to developing a larger soil reservoir capacity for storing rainwater in summer. Wheat plants under HLSC absorbed 21.76% more nitrogen and finally achieved an average 14.29% increase of NUE over the irrigation levels and seasons. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that HLSC is recommended as the best cultivation in wheat production. The results suggest that HLSC is a promising cultivation pattern for improving grain yield and water-nitrogen use efficiency in winter wheat production in the NCP. Our study provides a practical reference to explore sustainable cultivation patterns of winter wheat in areas with similar climate conditions to the NCP.