Effect of Field Border Width for Irrigation on Water Consumption Characteristics, Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Wheat

【Objective】 The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of different border widths for irrigation on water consumption characteristics, grain yield and water use efficiency of wheat, and to provide a theoretical basis for water-saving and high-yielding cultivation of wheat. 【Method】 With the high-yielding winter wheat cultivar Jimai22 as the test material, a field experiment was conducted under high-fertilized and 2.09‰ surface longitudinal slope conditions in Shiwang village(35°24′N, 116°24′E), Yanzhou, Shandong, by using four field border widths designed as 1.0 m(W10), 1.5 m(W15), 2.0 m(W20) and 2.5 m(W25), respectively, with the same border length of 60 m during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 wheat growing seasons. All the treatments were irrigated at jointing stage and the inflow cutoff was designed as 90%. Water was supplied by a pump outlet, directing the water to the plots by using plastic pipes. A flow meter was used to measure the amount of water applied. Water consumption characteristics, yield and water use efficiency of wheat were analyzed by dividing the field border into three regions of 0-20 m, 20-40 m and 40-60 m. 【Result】 In 2010-2011 wheat growing season, the W20 treatment showed that the total water consumption amount, irrigation amount and the ratio of irrigation amount to total water consumption amount were significantly lower than other treatments. However, the ratio of precipitation amount to total water consumption amount was the highest among all treatments. In addition, the ratio of soil water consumption amount to total water consumption amount was significantly higher than that of W10, but no difference with W15, and soil water consumption amount in 100-160 cm soil layers was higher than that of W10 and W15 treatments, but no difference with the W25 treatment. In 2011-2012 growing season, the total water consumption of W20 treatment had no significant difference with other treatments, and the irrigation amount and its ratio to total water consumption amount were significantly lower than those of other treatments, while the ratio of precipitation amount and soil water consumption amount to total water consumption amount had no differences with other treatments, and soil water consumption amount in 100-160 cm soil layers was significantly higher than the W15 treatment, but no difference with the W25 treatment. In both growing seasons, after irrigated at jointing stage, the average relative soil water contents of W20 showed no significant difference with W15 and W25, while it was significantly higher than other treatments at anthesis stage. From anthesis to maturity, the water consumption percentage of W20 was significantly higher than other treatments. After irrigated at jointing and anthesis stages, the soil water of W20 treatment distributed more uniformly in different regions of the same border than other treatments, because the coefficient of variability of the average relative soil water contents in different regions was the lowest. The coefficient of variability of the grain yield in different region was the lowest. As for the average grain yield, the W20 treatment was significantly higher than those of other treatments. Also the W20 treatment got the highest water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency. 【Conclusion】Considering the grain yield, water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency, the W20 treatment was considered to be the best field border width for water-saving and high-yield in this study.