Stereoscopic Planting in Ridge and Furrow Increases Grain Yield of Maize ( Zea mays L.) by Reducing the Plant’s Competition for Water and Light Resources

Shoutian Ma, Fujian Mei, Tongchao Wang, Zhandong Liu and Shouchen Ma
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Shoutian Ma: Key Laboratory for Crop Water Requirement and Regulation, Institute of Farmland Irrigation, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Ministry of Agriculture, Xinxiang 453002, China
Fujian Mei: Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, Agronomy College of Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Tongchao Wang: Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops, Agronomy College of Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Zhandong Liu: Key Laboratory for Crop Water Requirement and Regulation, Institute of Farmland Irrigation, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Ministry of Agriculture, Xinxiang 453002, China
Shouchen Ma: School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Increasing planting density is an important ways to increase maize yield. A hot topic of conversation in the current research is how to improve crop light efficiency and yield potential by optimizing the cultivation mode under high density planting is a hot topic in current research. Thus, in this study, a field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of stereo-planting patterns on water and the utilization light resource and maize yields. Planting patterns included the conventional flat planting pattern (as the control, CK) and the stereo-planting in ridge and furrow (T). Each planting pattern had three planting densities, i.e., 60,000 plants ha −1 (D1), 75,000 plants ha −1 (D2) and 90,000 plants ha −1 (D3). The results showed that stereo-planting affected the physiological characteristics of plants by changing the spatial distribution of soil moisture. At the silking stage (R1), photosynthetic rate ( P n ) of plants on the ridge was similar to CK, and transpiration rate ( T r ) was significantly lower than that of CK. P n of maize in the furrow was significantly higher than that of CK, and T r was similar to CK. Stereoscopic planting had different effects on intraspecific competition intensity in maize population in different growing stages. In the six-leaf stage (V6), stereo-planting increased competition intensity of maize on the ridge, but lowered that of maize in the furrow by affecting the spatial distribution of soil moisture. During the R1 stage, stereo-planting increased the light transmittance rate within the canopy and eased the plant’s competition for light by reducing plant height and leaf area of maize under three density conditions. Stereo-planting had no effect on grain yield and dry matter accumulation of ridge-planted maize in the later growing stage, but it did increased the dry matter accumulation and grain yield of furrow-planted maize due to the improvement of the light environment and photosynthetic characteristics of the population. In two test years, stereo-planting increased 5.0–11.0% average yield of maize compared to CK under three density conditions. These results indicate that stereo-planting can reduce the plant’s competition for light and water resources and improve its physiological traits of plant by optimizing its spatial distribution of soil moisture and canopy structure, thus further increasing grain yield of maize under high-density planting conditions.

Keywords: summer maize; stereoscopic planting; spatial distribution of soil moisture; competition; canopy structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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