Straw mulch decreased nitrogen fertilizer requirements via regulating soil moisture and temperature to improve physiology, nitrogen, and water use efficiency of wheat

Abstract

AbstractThe infrequent rainfall caused drought‐prone conditions, particularly in semiarid regions of China, where most of the precipitation occurs in summer season. Thus, the summer rainwater conservation is very important for winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) production. Therefore, a 2‐year field experiment was conducted on straw mulch along with nitrogen (N) fertilizer to improve physiology, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), wheat yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). Maize (Zea mays) was a rotated crop after wheat, and therefore, maize straw mulch (S1, 0 kg ha−1; S2, 4500 kg ha−1; S3, 9000 kg ha−1) was in the main plots, and N fertilizer (N1, 0 kg ha−1; N2, 192 kg ha−1 [80%]; N3, 240 kg ha−1 [100%]) was in the subplots. The interaction of S3N3 and S3N2 produced 59.2% and 43.8% higher net photosynthesis and enhanced its characteristics at booting stage compared with that of S1N1. Higher Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) values (49.1% and 41.0%) and leaf area (85.6% and 61.0%) were measured with S3N3 and S3N2 treatments at booting stage compared with S1N1. Both S3N2 and S3N3 had increased wheat N‐uptake (91% and 103%, respectively) compared to S1N1. While S3N3 and S3N2 enhanced soil moisture conservation, NUE (19.7% and 22.8%) and WUE (47.2% and 47.2%) improved the growth yield of wheat compared to S1N1. Higher wheat grain yield (7604 kg ha−1) was obtained from interaction of S3N2. Therefore, interaction of S3N2 is a viable approach for improving the winter wheat crop performance in terms of NUE, WUE, and wheat yield for semiarid areas in China.