Planting Density and Sowing Date Strongly Influence Canopy Characteristics and Seed Yield of Soybean in Southern Xinjiang

Naibo Xu, Tingyong Mao, Hengbin Zhang, Xingjun Huang, Yong Zhan (), Jiahao Liu, Desheng Wang and Yunlong Zhai ()
Additional contact information
Naibo Xu: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Tingyong Mao: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Hengbin Zhang: Crops Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural and Reclamation Sciences, Shihezi 832000, China
Xingjun Huang: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Yong Zhan: Crops Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural and Reclamation Sciences, Shihezi 832000, China
Jiahao Liu: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Desheng Wang: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Yunlong Zhai: College of Agriculture, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Southern Xinjiang is an important soybean production region in China. However, the short growing season and the cultivation of winter crops (such as wheat) in the region limit the expansion of soybean planting areas. An increased planting density can compensate for the loss in yield due to delayed sowing. To identify the quantitative relationship between increased density and delayed days, a two-year field experiment was conducted at the Tarim University Agronomy Experiment Station. Two sowing dates (April 7 (S1) and May 7 (S2)) and three planting densities of 206,800 plants·ha −1 (D1), 308,600 plants·ha −1 (D2), and 510,200 plants·ha −1 (D3) were used to compare various plant growth parameters and canopy characteristics. Late sowing and a high planting density significantly increased the plant height (S2 was 37.3% higher than S1, and D3 was 17.6% and 8.8% higher than D1 and D2), main stem internode, petiole length, and the mean tilt angle of the leaves (S2 was 22.5% higher than S1, and D3 was 11.7% higher than D2) but reduced the stem diameter (D3 was 28.6% and 12.5% lower than D1 and D2), branch number (S2 was 26.7% lower than S1, and D2 was 75% lower than D1), canopy light transmittance (S2 was 49.2% lower than S1, and D3 was 36.7% and 20.8% lower than D1 and D2), photosynthetic rate, and dry matter. The highest yield was achieved at S1D1, but the lowest yield was found for S2D1. Overall, the results suggest that earlier sowing and a lower planting density contribute to achieving an optimum canopy structure and higher yield. Our conclusions provide a reference for soybean production in southern Xinjiang.

Keywords: soybean; sowing dates; planting density; canopy properties; canopy characteristics; indexes of plant growth; yield (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/1892/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/1892/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:1892-:d:1506624

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().