Effects of pre‐Sowing Irrigation on Crop Water Consumption, Grain Yield and Water Productivity of Winter Wheat in the North China Plain

Abstract In three growing seasons from 2009 to 2012, we investigated the effects of different combinations of pre‐sowing irrigation and supplemental irrigation on crop water consumption, grain yield, and water productivity (WP) of winter wheat. One conventional irrigation schedule (irrigation applied at the overwintering and jointing stages) can stabilize wheat yield and WP with low or sufficient rainfall, but another conventional irrigation schedule (irrigation applied at the reviving and filling stages) decreased wheat yield and WP significantly with continuous droughts throughout winter and spring. The winter wheat with the pre‐sowing irrigation and supplemental irrigation applied at the recovery or elongation stage had a grain yield and WP in the seasons with less rainfall during the early growing stage that was higher than 7500 kg ha‐1 and 1.85 kg m‐3, respectively. In contrast, the irrigation schedule with the pre‐sowing irrigation and irrigation applied at the grain‐filling stage decreased wheat yield and WP significantly in the seasons with continuous droughts throughout winter and spring. These results indicated that combined with pre‐sowing irrigation, supplemental irrigation should be applied at the recovery stage and not later than the jointing stage; otherwise, the grain yield and WP of winter wheat will be decreased. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.