Light distribution in wheat population and its effect on leaf photosynthetic rate under raised-bed planting method

A comparative study was conducted on the distribution of light in wheat population and leaf photosynthetic rate in four wheat genotypes (the large-spike cultivars of “Yanfu188” and “Zimai12”, and the multi-spike cultivars of “Jimai22” and “Jimai20”) under raised-bed and conventional flat planting methods. The results show a significant improvement in canopy light vertical reception, leaf photosynthetic rate, 1000-kernel weight and per-spike grain number under raised-bed planting method (RBP), in comparison to conventional flat planting (CFP). RBP can significantly decrease the canopy temperature of the multi-spike cultivars, while it is not significant for the large-spike cultivars. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the multi-spike cultivars is higher under RBP than CFP, showing significantly promoting effect of RBP on plant growth. Wheat cultivars that develop more tillers and spikes are more suitable to RBP conditions.