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REVIEW
Contents Vol 51(5)

No-tillage enhances soil water storage, grain yield and water use efficiency in dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays) cropping systems: a global meta-analysis

Muhammad Adil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2915-8461 A , Siqi Lu B , Zijie Yao A , Cheng Zhang A , Heli Lu A C D E F G * , Safdar Bashir H , Mansoor Maitah I , Isma Gul J , Sehar Razzaq K and Lin Qiu L M
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development and Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China.

B Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-4148, USA.

C Laboratory of Climate Change Mitigation and Carbon Neutrality, Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, China.

D Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education/National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China.

E Henan Dabieshan National Field Observation and Research Station of Forest Ecosystem, Zhengzhou 450046, China.

F Henan Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Modeling, Henan University, Xinyang 475004, China.

G Xinyang Academy of Ecological Research, Xinyang 464000, China.

H Department of Soil and Water Systems, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA.

I Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague 165 00, Czech Republic.

J State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

K State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China.

L The Forest Science Research Institute of Xinyang, Henan, Xinyang 464031, China.

M Henan Jigongshan Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Henan, Xinyan 464031, China.

* Correspondence to: luheli@vip.henu.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Inzamam Haq

Functional Plant Biology 51, FP23267 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP23267
Submitted: 8 November 2023  Accepted: 25 March 2024  Published: 3 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Climate change significantly affects crop production and is a threat to global food security. Conventional tillage (CT) is the primary tillage practice in rain-fed areas to conserve soil moisture. Despite previous research on the effect of tillage methods on different cropping systems, a comparison of tillage methods on soil water storage, crop yield and crop water use in wheat (Triticum aestivum) and maize (Zea mays) under different soil textures, precipitation and temperature patterns is needed. We reviewed 119 published articles and used meta-analysis to assess the effects of three conservation tillage practices (NT, no-tillage; RT, reduced tillage; ST, subsoil tillage), on precipitation storage efficiency (PSE), soil water storage at crop planting (SWSp), grain yield, evapotranspiration (ET) and water use efficiency (WUE) under varying precipitation and temperature patterns and soil textures in dryland wheat and maize, with CT as the control treatment. Conservation tillage methods increased PSE, SWSp, grain yield, ET and WUE in both winter wheat-fallow and spring maize cropping systems. More precipitation water was conserved in fine-textured soils than in medium-textured and coarse-textured soils, which improved ET. Conservation tillage increased soil water conservation and yield under high mean annual precipitation (MAP) and moderate mean annual temperature (MAT) conditions in winter wheat. However, soil water conservation and yield were greater under MAP <400 mm and moderate MAT. We conclude that conservation tillage could be promising for increasing precipitation storage, soil water conservation and crop yield in regions with medium to low MAPs and medium to high MATs.

Keywords: climate change, conservation tillage, conventional tillage, dryland cropping systems, fallow water conservation, food security, precipitation storage efficiency, water use efficiency.

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