Ma et al. (2026) Effects of Establishment-Water Supply Method and Phosphorus Fertilizer Management on Growth, Soil Water Dynamics, and Grain Yield of Drip-Irrigated Winter Wheat

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Identification

• Journal: Plants
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-23
• Authors: Jiantao Ma, Shihui Nie, Yanting Zhang, Chunwu Wang, Chuanxin Chen, Juan Li, Yuting Hou, Haiyan Bi, Yongqiang Zhang, Junjie Lei
• DOI: 10.3390/plants15192904

Research Groups

• Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Department of Agronomy, Xinjiang Agricultural University

Short Summary

This study investigates the interaction between phosphorus management and water supply method for crop establishment in drip-irrigated winter wheat, finding that dry sowing followed by drip irrigation with 50% basal P + 50% fertigated P improves soil water availability, grain yield, and water-use efficiency.

Objective

• Investigate the effect of pre-sowing irrigation vs. dry sowing followed by drip irrigation on phosphorus management in winter wheat

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: A two-year field experiment conducted at a single site in northern Xinjiang, China.
• Temporal Scale: The study spanned two years (2023–2025).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random-forest analysis for predicting yield variation.
• Data sources: Field measurements of soil water content, crop growth, and grain yield.

Main Results

• Dry sowing followed by drip irrigation increased mean 0–100 cm soil water content by 15.76% relative to pre-sowing irrigation.
• The combination of dry sowing and 50% basal P + 50% fertigated P resulted in the highest two-year mean grain yield (8416.2 kg ha−1) and water-use efficiency.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the interaction between phosphorus management and water supply method for crop establishment, highlighting the potential benefits of dry sowing followed by drip irrigation with split P application.
• The findings suggest that this approach can improve soil water availability, late-season biomass accumulation, grain yield, and water-use efficiency in winter wheat.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52179012) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant No. 2022AB011).

Citation

@article{Ma2026Effects,
  author = {Ma, Jiantao and Nie, Shihui and Zhang, Yanting and Zhang, Yanting and Wang, Chunwu and Chen, Chuanxin and Li, Juan and Hou, Yuting and Bi, Haiyan and Zhang, Yongqiang and Zhang, Yongqiang and Lei, Junjie},
  title = {Effects of Establishment-Water Supply Method and Phosphorus Fertilizer Management on Growth, Soil Water Dynamics, and Grain Yield of Drip-Irrigated Winter Wheat},
  journal = {Plants},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/plants15192904},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15192904}
}