Modifying Winter Wheat Sowing Date as an Adaptation to Climate Change on the Loess Plateau

Abstract

Adopting convenient strategies to cope with climate change is necessary for farmers. In this study, we modified winter wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) sowing date employing the root zone water quality model (RZWQM2) on the semiarid Loess Plateau of China, and mainly aimed to (i) investigate how the adapted sowing date affects winter wheat production and water use efficiency (WUE) under global warming and (ii) explore the optimal sowing date under different precipitation patterns (i.e., wet, medium, and dry years). Results showed that the RZWQM2 model could efficiently simulate crop development, water movement, and final crop yields on the Loess Plateau. The properly delayed sowing date efficiently maintained wheat yield, reduced evapotranspiration, increased WUE, and minimized the decreasing rate of wheat yield and WUE under global warming from the 1950s. To maintain a high level of yield under global warming, the wheat sowing date could be delayed by 10 to 20 d in the wet and medium years, and by 20 to 25 d in the dry year compared with the current sowing date. Therefore, a delayed sowing date could be used on the Loess Plateau and even similar semiarid environments in the world to cope with climate change for farmers.