Ridge and Furrow Configuration Optimized Soil Hydrothermal Environment, Maize Canopy Traits and Improved Grain Yield in Northwest China

Ridge and furrow planting system is widely used for yield-increasing in Northwest area of China. However, the effect of optimized ridge and furrow configuration (planting both on ridges and in furrows) to soil hydrothermal environment, maize canopy structure and grain yield are still not clear. Therefore, a 2-year (2015—2016) field experiment was conducted to investigate the regulatory effects of different planting systems [conventional flat planting without ridge (CK), ridge-furrow planting system with two row plants in both ridge and furrow (R 2 F 2 ), and with three rows in a ridge and two rows in a furrow (R 3 F 2 )] on maize growth, grain yield and resource utilization. The results showed that soil hydrothermal environment and canopy structure were improved under the optimized ridge and furrow configuration, but not caused excessive water consumption. Compared with CK, the ridge and furrow configuration showed a greater advantage in virtue of coordinating water and temperature allocation, which increased LAI, photosynthetic capacity per plant and dry matter accumulation for plants in furrows. In addition, ridge and furrow systems represented a higher canopy light transmission rate of bottom layers, which contribute to more light interception capacity for plants. In comparison with CK, grain yield of R 2 F 2 and R 3 F 2 significantly improved by 20.5% and 12.4%, water use efficiency by 26.2% and 20.1%, radiation use efficiency by 28.2% and 17.8%, respectively. Overall, the optimized ridge and furrow configuration (R 2 F 2 ) brought an improvement of soil hydrothermal environment, optimize canopy structure, and ultimately obtained an increase of grain yield.