Yang et al. (2025) Balancing yield and water productivity in wheat: A meta-analysis of irrigation, soil, and climate interactions

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-20
• Authors: Yiwen Yang, Zitian Wang, Yuru Ma, Yunqi Wang, Jinze Bai, Rui Zhang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109999

Research Groups

• College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
• Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops, Key Laboratory of Biological Breeding for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China

Short Summary

This meta-analysis quantified the interactive effects of irrigation, climate, soil, and fertilizer management on wheat yield, yield components, grain protein content, and water productivity across China, revealing that irrigation significantly increased yield and water productivity, with optimal strategies varying based on environmental and management conditions.

Objective

• To quantify the effects of irrigation on wheat grain yield, yield components (spike number, grains per spike, 1000-kernel weight), water productivity (WP), and grain protein content (GPC).
• To identify optimal irrigation event, amount, and timing under contrasting environmental (climate, soil) and management (fertilizer) conditions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Nationwide (China), encompassing diverse agroecosystems.
• Temporal Scale: Meta-analysis of peer-reviewed articles published before January 2025.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Meta-analysis using log response ratio (LnRR) and a randomized mixed-effects model, implemented with MetaWin software.
• Data sources: Peer-reviewed articles from Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), reporting field experiments in China. Data extracted from tables, figures, and text, or calculated from primary data. Excluded laboratory, greenhouse, soil column, pot, and modeling-based studies.

Main Results

• Overall, irrigation significantly increased wheat grain yield by 32.47%, spike number by 19.02%, grains per spike by 12.05%, thousand-kernel weight by 3.46%, and water productivity (WP) by 2.28%. No significant overall effect on grain protein content (GPC).
• Optimal irrigation volumes of 75–150 mm were identified for maximizing both yield components and WP.
• Yield gains were most pronounced in regions with high mean annual temperature (MAT) and low mean annual precipitation (MAP < 500 mm), reaching 38.38% and 33.34%, respectively.
• WP increased more under 500–600 mm precipitation, but decreased by 2.93% in regions with MAP ≤ 500 mm.
• Irrigation combined with nitrogen application produced greater yield gains in soils with moderate bulk density and regions with low annual precipitation (< 500 mm).
• Water-saving irrigation methods (e.g., sprinkler, drip) achieved higher grain yield and WP than conventional irrigation.
• Irrigation during the jointing–flowering stage significantly increased grain yield and its components (26.4% increase).
• Optimal strategies varied by target trait: for grain yield, >3 events, >150 mm, post-anthesis, and water-saving irrigation; for WP, single irrigation, <75 mm, pre-jointing, and water-saving irrigation; for GPC, two irrigations during jointing–flowering.

Contributions

• Provided a comprehensive nationwide synthesis in China, simultaneously comparing the full spectrum of irrigation management practices and evaluating their integrated effects on a complete set of priority agronomic indicators (yield, its components, WP, and GPC).
• Delivered a novel, evidence-based framework for context-specific irrigation optimization, moving beyond isolated factors and one-size-fits-all recommendations.
• Offered practical guidance for field-scale irrigation scheduling and supported the development of site-specific, sustainable irrigation policies for winter wheat production.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 3227020750].

Citation

@article{Yang2025Balancing,
  author = {Yang, Yiwen and Wang, Zitian and Ma, Yuru and Wang, Yunqi and Bai, Jinze and Zhang, Rui},
  title = {Balancing yield and water productivity in wheat: A meta-analysis of irrigation, soil, and climate interactions},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109999},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109999}
}