Effect of sprinkler irrigation on crop's growth

A three-year experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of sprinkler irrigation on winter wheat growth in North China Plain. The surface irrigation was arranged as control. The research results indicate that: (1)amplitude of soil moisture during irrigation intervals under sprinkler irrigation condition was lower than that under surface irrigation condition; (2) the maximum number of tillers under sprinkler irrigation condition was smaller than that under surface irrigation condition, however, there was no great difference between the numbers of spikes under both conditions, i.e. the sterile number of tillers under sprinkler irrigation field was smaller than that under surface irrigation condition; (3) winter wheat height under sprinkler irrigation condition was higher than that under surface irrigation condition during elongation stage while there was no significant difference between the two conditions at harvest days; (4) leaf area index(LAI) at earlier stage under sprinkler irrigation condition was smaller or approximates that under surface irrigation condition, the maximum LAI was smaller than that under surface irrigation condition, and LAI gradually increased and became larger than that under surface irrigation condition after perk point; (5) significant difference of biomass of single stem between both irrigation methods was not found before grain filling, and then it increased and became more than that under surface irrigation condition; the total biomass under sprinkle irrigation condition was smaller than that under surface irrigation condition during elongation stage, and then it increased quickly and became higher than that under surface irrigation field; and(6) winter wheat yields under sprinkler irrigation condition were higher than that under surface irrigation condition.