Effects of Sowing Mode on Lodging Resistance and Grain Yield in Winter Wheat

• Main Authors: Lifeng Wu, Xiaowei Han, Shahidul Islam, Shengnan Zhai, Hui Zhao, Guoshun Zhang, Gangzhu Cui, Feng Zhang, Wenliang Han, Xiaosheng You, Zhengchun Ju, Peng Lv, Jiangming Zhou, Qi Gao, Baoming Cui, Yanfang Wu, Zhichao Yang, Qier Liu, Fan Yang, Jingjuan Zhang, Hang Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Agronomy
• Subjects: grain yield; high-and-low-plot sowing mode; lodging resistance; small-flat-plot sowing mode; wheat
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/7/1378

For improving lodging resistance and increasing grain yield in wheat in the Yellow-Huai River Basin in China, different sowing modes have been investigated. Conventionally, the small-flat-plot sowing mode has been adopted in wheat cultivation. However, this sowing mode leads to heavy lodging and low land use efficiency. In this study, a new sowing mode, high-low-plot sowing mode with two more rows sowed on the high plot, was investigated. Two cultivars, Hengguan 35 and Jimai 44 were used for two seasonal field experiments from 2018 to 2020. The results showed that grain yield improved with the high-low sowing mode by as much as 25% since more spikes per unit area were observed concomitant with reduced stem lodging. The grain yield increase was mainly due to the enhanced spike number per m², while the lodging resistance was improved through the lowered plant height and the center of gravity height. This research proves that the high-low-plot sowing mode is an improved sowing mode for producing greater grain yield with better lodging resistance in the wheat production area in northern China.