Abstract:
The consumption of breads produced by strong gluten wheat is increasing rapidly in China, however, it is difficult to find commercial grain with sufficient quality for bread-making in Chinese market. The high grain protein content (GPC) is desirable in strong gluten wheat, but a grain yield (GY) decrease was usually observed when achieving the targeted GPC in production. Sowing date, nitrogen rate and plant density are effective cultivation practices to regulate GY and GPC in strong gluten wheat. In this study, a Meta-analysis was performed on the effects of these main cultivation practices on GY and GPG of strong gluten wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai Region using the existing literature data from 2003 to 2023. The control (CK) was selected from 10 October to 25 October for sowing date, from 270 to 300 kg·hm
−2 for nitrogen rate, and from 180×10
4 to 240×10
4 plants·hm
−2 for plant density, respectively. The Meta-analysis showed that when the sowing date was delayed by 0 to 35 days, the GY of strong gluten wheat was significantly reduced by 2.86%~19.22%, and a sharp drop occurred from 21 to 28 days. Moreover, the GPC was significantly decreased by 4.08% when the sowing date was delayed by 0 to 7 days, while that was significantly increased by 10.54% when the sowing date was delayed by 21 to 28 days. When the nitrogen rate was reduced by 0 to 30 kg·hm
−2, the GY was significantly increased by 4.67%; however, the GY was significantly decreased by 2.75% and 4.69%~36.84% when the nitrogen was reduced by 30~60 kg·hm
−2 and 90~300 kg·hm
−2, respectively. Meanwhile, an average decrease of 4.31%~23.54% was observed in GPC when the nitrogen rate was reduced by 30 to 240 kg·hm
−2. When the plant density was increased by 0 to 90×10
4 plants·hm
−2, the GY was significantly improved by 1.73%~3.59%; and an average increase of 2.01%~2.61% was observed in the GPC when the plant density was increased by 30×10
4 to 90×10
4 plants·hm
−2. Furthermore, the relationship between GY and GPC of strong gluten wheat was analyzed under different cultivation practices mentioned above in this region. The qualified grain quality (GPC>14.0%) while maintaining high yield (GY>8 000 kg·hm
−2) could be obtained with the sowing date from 10 October to 21 October, the nitrogen rate from 230 to 286 kg·hm
−2, and the plant density from 247×10
4 to 289×10
4 plants·hm
−2. Correspondingly, the dry matter accumulation of strong gluten wheat ranged between 14.7 and 17.0 t·hm
−2 at anthesis as well as 20.4 and 26.6 t·hm
−2 at maturity, while the nitrogen content of single stem, stem, leaf, and ear at anthesis is maintained within 16.0, 9.0, 34.0 and 14.5 mg·g
−1. These findings would provide novel approaches for simultaneous improvement in the grain yield and quality of strong gluten wheat for bread-making in the Huang-Huai-Hai Region.