Wheat Sowing Times, High-Yield Varieties and Planting Methods Across China's Regions

We have now entered the season for choosing wheat varieties. Wheat seed sellers are already blaring their loudspeakers in the villages, each praising their own goods like the proverbial Wang Po selling melons. How should farmer friends correctly choose wheat varieties? When should wheat be planted this year? What are the wheat sowing times in different regions? What are the precautions for wheat sowing? Let's learn together:

I. 2018 Wheat Sowing Schedule Across China

Wheat Sowing Time in Henan

In northern and western Henan, the suitable sowing period is from October 4 to 13;

In local hilly and mountainous areas, sowing in early October is suitable;

In central and eastern Henan, the suitable sowing period is from October 7 to 15;

In southwestern Henan, the suitable sowing period is from October 15 to 23;

In southern Henan, the suitable sowing period is from October 17 to 26.

Wheat Sowing Time in Hebei

Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Langfang, and northern Baoding: October 1 to October 8;

Southern Baoding, Shijiazhuang, and Cangzhou: October 5 to October 13;

Hengshui, Xingtai, and Handan: October 8 to October 18. Most areas are close to normal but slightly late (3-5 days late).

Wheat Sowing Time in Shandong

In eastern Shandong (Yantai, Weihai, Qingdao, Weifang), the suitable sowing period for wheat is generally from October 1 to October 10, with the optimal sowing period from October 3 to October 8.

In central Shandong (Jinan, Zibo, Binzhou, Laiwu, Tai'an), the suitable sowing period for wheat is generally from October 1 to October 10, with the optimal sowing period from October 3 to October 8.

In northern Shandong (Liaocheng, Dezhou), the suitable sowing period for wheat is generally from October 1 to October 10, with the optimal sowing period from October 3 to October 8.

In western Shandong (parts of Liaocheng, parts of Heze, Jining), the suitable sowing period is from October 3 to October 12, with the optimal sowing period from October 5 to October 10;

In southern Shandong (most of Tai'an, Jinan, Laiwu, Zibo, most of Liaocheng, Rizhao), it is from October 5 to 15, with the optimal sowing period from October 7 to 12.

In southwestern Shandong (Heze, Jining, Zaozhuang, southern Liaocheng, southwestern Tai'an, and Feixian and Pingyi counties in Linyi), it is from October 5 to 15, with the optimal sowing period from October 7 to 12.

Wheat Sowing Time in North China and Other Regions

The North China winter wheat region is the main winter wheat region in China, accounting for 47% of the country's sown area and 53% of total production.

In normal years, winter wheat can safely overwinter, with accumulated temperatures above 0°C reaching 4100°C. It can support double cropping of wheat and early-to-mid-maturing corn.

Water is the limiting factor determining the sown area. North of the Yellow River, wheat is mostly planted on irrigated land; the Huang-Huai Plain is suitable for dryland wheat, with great production potential.

The middle and lower Yangtze winter wheat region accounts for 12.3% of the planted area and 45% of total production. From March to May, light, temperature, and water in the Jianghuai Plain are relatively well coordinated. Areas with precipitation greater than 450mm from March to May are unsuitable for wheat planting. The wheat commodity rate in this region is relatively high.

The Northeast spring wheat region: Heilongjiang and Jilin have low temperatures, suitable for spring wheat. The Northwest spring and winter wheat region: irrigation districts and the Loess Plateau. Except for southern Xinjiang, spring wheat is mainly grown; southern Xinjiang grows winter wheat, which has good adaptability, high productivity, and excellent quality.

The Southwest wheat region: the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Sichuan has warm winters with suitable temperatures and water, but less sunlight and severe pests and diseases. The plateau has strong sunlight, and low temperatures during the irrigation maturation period, which favors high yields.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau winter-spring wheat region: the combination of light, temperature, and water favors wheat growth, with the heading-to-maturation period lasting 50-80 days. Precipitation is insufficient, so wheat is planted on irrigated land.

There are so many wheat varieties, how do you choose high-yield and stable-yield wheat varieties?

Choose based on the essential traits for high and stable wheat yields

1. Cold resistance

Wheat varieties come in three types: spring, semi-winter, and winter. Wheat varieties should have a certain degree of cold resistance, but more cold resistance is not necessarily better; it just needs to ensure safe overwintering under local autumn sowing conditions.

2. Disease resistance

The main threats to wheat production are the three rusts, powdery mildew, and take-all disease. Therefore, when purchasing seeds, carefully read the descriptions of the variety's disease resistance.

3. Early maturity

Early maturity or appropriate maturity timing is an important condition for high and stable wheat yields. Early-maturing varieties can avoid or reduce certain natural disasters, such as escaping dry hot winds and high-temperature diseases during the grain-filling and maturation period.

4. Lodging resistance

As the saying goes, “when wheat lodges, you get a armful of straw.” Only by choosing varieties with strong lodging resistance can you further increase yields and achieve high and stable production.

Generally, in field production, a plant height of 70-85 cm is ideal. The lodging resistance of varieties is also divided into several types such as high resistance, moderate resistance, and relatively resistant, and should be selected according to your own soil fertility level.

Choose according to the principles of wheat variety selection

Central and Northern Wheat Region

Including Zhengzhou, Luohe, Xuchang, Pingdingshan, and Luoyang north of Shahe, as well as irrigated land north of the Yellow River. This region has good production conditions, a relatively large irrigated area, and relatively high yield levels.

When selecting varieties, try to choose semi-winter mid-maturing or early-to-mid-maturing varieties, with weak spring varieties for late stubble.

Eastern Wheat Region

Including Shangqiu, Zhoukou, Kaifeng, and other cities. This region has a relatively high production level, but the probability of late spring cold is relatively high.

When selecting varieties, focus on semi-winter varieties with stable spring development, strong resistance to late spring cold, good lodging resistance, and strong resistance to powdery mildew, rust, and fusarium head blight, with reasonable pairing of weak spring varieties.

Nanyang Basin Wheat Region

In this region's variety layout, consider a reasonable combination of semi-winter early-maturing varieties and weak spring varieties, choosing varieties resistant to stripe rust and powdery mildew, tolerant to sheath blight and fusarium head blight, and resistant to sprouting and lodging.

Xinyang Rice Stubble Wheat Region

Including Xinyang City and rice stubble wheat planting areas in southern Nanyang and Zhumadian. This region has relatively high precipitation and high field humidity. The variety layout should focus on spring or weak spring varieties that are moisture-tolerant, waterlogging-tolerant, resistant to sprouting, disease-resistant (fusarium head blight, sheath blight, powdery mildew), and early-maturing, leveraging the advantages of early-maturing varieties in escaping disease and disaster.

Dryland Wheat Region

Including Luoyang, Sanmenxia, Jiyuan, Pingdingshan, Zhengzhou, and other shallow hilly and mountainous areas in central and western regions. This region has poor irrigation capacity, and wheat growth relies on natural rainfall, so varieties with good drought tolerance are suitable for planting.

II. Precautions for Wheat Sowing

1. Fine land preparation

Land preparation and sowing should achieve depth, fineness, thoroughness, levelness, compactness, and sufficiency

“Deep”: deep plowing of more than 25 cm to break the plow pan.

“Fine”: timely harrowing to break up clods both on and below the surface.

“Level”: rough leveling before plowing, re-leveling after plowing.

“Compact”: loose on top and compact below, with no missed plowing or harrowing, and no hollow hidden ridges.

“Sufficient”: sufficient subsoil moisture; the soil moisture content of the plow layer should be above 20% for clay loam, above 18% for loam, and above 16% for sandy soil, accounting for about 70%-80% of field capacity, to ensure full seedling emergence after sowing.

2. Appropriate sowing rate

Variety differences

For varieties with strong tillering ability, appropriately reduce the sowing rate; for varieties with weaker tillering ability, appropriately increase the sowing rate.

Sowing time

Reduce sowing rate for early sowing, increase sowing rate for late sowing.

Soil fertility level

For high-fertility fields with superior soil fertility, there is more tillering and a high spike-forming rate, so the sowing rate should be appropriately reduced; for low-fertility fields, appropriately increase it, but not too much, to avoid excessive basic seedlings that result in weak seedlings.

Suitable sowing rate

During the suitable sowing period, the suitable sowing rate for dryland is 7.5-10 kg per mu, and for irrigated land it is: 12.5-15 kg per mu for drilling, and 15-17.5 kg per mu for broadcasting.

For each day earlier or later than the suitable sowing period, reduce or increase the sowing rate by 0.5 kg per mu.

3. Moderately deep plowing

Strictly control the sowing depth at 3-4 cm. If sown too shallow, the seeds may dry out due to soil moisture loss during germination and emergence, causing missing seedlings and broken rows. At the same time, if sown too shallow, the tillering node is too close to the ground surface, and the cold resistance is weak, which is not conducive to safe overwintering.

If sown too deep, the wheat mesocotyl elongates excessively, causing the first and even second internodes of the tillering node, which normally do not elongate, to elongate. During emergence, too much of the seed's nutrients are consumed, resulting in thin and weak seedlings with few tillers, making it difficult to form a suitable population before winter. Additionally, the plant accumulates less nutrients and has weak cold resistance, making it prone to large-scale seedling death in winter and early spring.