Conservation tillage improves the yield of summer maize by regulating soil water, photosynthesis and inferior kernel grain filling on the semiarid Loess Plateau, China
2022
Wang, Zhen | Sun, Jun | Du, Yadan | Niu, Wenquan
BACKGROUND: Poor inferior kernel grain filling is a challenge that limits summer maize yield. The effect and mechanism of conservation tillage on improving grain filling of inferior kernel in semi‐arid rained areas remain uncertain and there has been little research on tillage management integrated with straw mulching to improve soil water content and photosynthesis in the Loess Plateau region. A 2 year (2019–2020) field experiment was established to study the impact of tillage practices on soil water content and summer maize root system morphology, photosynthetic capacity, inferior kernel grain filling, and grain yield. Treatments included reduced tillage (RT), no tillage (NT), and conventional tillage (CT). RESULTS: Under RT and NT, the final 100‐kernel weight and maximum and mean grain filling rates were higher than CT. Reduced tillage and NT increased soil water content at the jointing stage, silking stage and grain filling stage in comparison with CT. They increased root system morphology and dry matter accumulation, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration efficiency, and stomatal conductance in comparison with CT, and they also decreased intercellular CO₂ concentration, and they increased chlorophyll content and above‐ground dry matter accumulation in comparison with CT. Reduced tillage and NT increased evapotranspiration of maize, and ultimately, increased grain yield by 17% and 14%, respectively, in comparison with CT. CONCLUSION: Conservation tillage could promote summer maize photosynthetic capacity and grain filling of inferior kernels by regulating soil water content and root system morphology. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
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