Novel water-saving cultivation system maintains crop yield while reducing environmental costs in North China Plain

Poor irrigation practices are accelerating groundwater depletion, together with negative effects on climate change and had therefore threatened agricultural sustainability in North China Pain (NCP). Integrated optimization of cropping systems and water-saving cultivation techniques is critical. We developed a novel water-saving cultivation system that incorporates application of disposable pre-sowing irrigation in wheat to 85−90% of field capacity and irrigation only while sowing maize under winter wheat-summer maize rotation system (T1W0) and winter wheat/summer maize-single maize rotation system (three harvests in two years, T2W0). The T1W0 significantly reduced irrigation amount by 42.1% and mitigated carbon footprint by 35.5%, and achieved 92.2% of grain yield compared with conventional farming practice (three irrigation for wheat). Crop modeling showed that T2W0 had the potential of sustainable irrigation with groundwater decline at 0.12 m year−1. The T1W0 is recommended for most areas in NCP while T2W0 is for severe ground funnel areas.