IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v317y2025ics0378377425003853.html

Effects of increasing maize planting density on yield, water productivity and irrigation water productivity in China: A comprehensive meta-analysis incorporating soil and climatic factors

Author

Listed:
  • Zhou, Mingwei
  • Wang, Yongcui
  • Gu, Jian
  • Ma, Ningning
  • Hou, Wenjie
  • Sun, Jiaqi
  • Fan, Xiaobing
  • Yin, Guanghua

Abstract

Increased planting density (IPD) has been widely implemented, yet its impact on maize yield, irrigation water productivity (IWP), and water productivity (WP) remains unclear. Utilizing data sourced from peer-reviewed publications, we conducted a meta-analysis to (1) examine the effects of varying planting densities on maize yield, (2) further investigate the influence of soil properties and the climate-whether dry or wet-on maize yield, IWP, and WP across increasing maize planting densities, and (3) assess the effects of fertilizer application on maize yield, IWP, and WP across increasing maize planting densities. The results showed that increasing planting density was effectively increased the total maize yield by about 13.3 %, IWP by about 16.7 % and WP by about 7.9 %. Soil type and wet/dry conditions also significantly affected maize, with the highest yield increase in silty (30.2 %) and dry semi humid (13.6 %), WP in (loamy: 18.7 %) and dry semi humid (15.7 %), and IWP in loamy (30.3 %) and semi arid (17.8 %). Therefore, in our study, we recommended the following for maize production practices in China: the best soil type for maize cultivation is recommended to be silty, the climate type is dry semi-arid; the recommended planting density is recommended to be 75,000–90,000 plants·ha−1, with irrigation ranging from 200 to 400 mm irrigation, 200–300 kg·ha−1 of nitrogen fertiliser, and 200 kg·ha−1 or more of phosphorus and potash fertiliser to maximise yield. This research highlights the strategic importance of tailored planting and irrigation practices for sustainable maize production and offers practical guidance for farmers and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Mingwei & Wang, Yongcui & Gu, Jian & Ma, Ningning & Hou, Wenjie & Sun, Jiaqi & Fan, Xiaobing & Yin, Guanghua, 2025. "Effects of increasing maize planting density on yield, water productivity and irrigation water productivity in China: A comprehensive meta-analysis incorporating soil and climatic factors," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:317:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425003853
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109671
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425003853
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109671?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feng Wang & Jun Xue & Ruizhi Xie & Bo Ming & Keru Wang & Peng Hou & Lizhen Zhang & Shaokun Li, 2022. "Assessing Growth and Water Productivity for Drip-Irrigated Maize under High Plant Density in Arid to Semi-Humid Climates," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Wang, Naijiang & Ding, Dianyuan & Malone, Robert W. & Chen, Haixin & Wei, Yongsheng & Zhang, Tibin & Luo, Xiaoqi & Li, Cheng & Chu, Xiaosheng & Feng, Hao, 2020. "When does plastic-film mulching yield more for dryland maize in the Loess Plateau of China? A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    3. Hao, Baozhen & Xue, Qingwu & Marek, Thomas H. & Jessup, Kirk E. & Hou, Xiaobo & Xu, Wenwei & Bynum, Edsel D. & Bean, Brent W., 2015. "Soil water extraction, water use, and grain yield by drought-tolerant maize on the Texas High Plains," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 11-21.
    4. Lai, Zhenlin & Fan, Junliang & Yang, Rui & Xu, Xinyu & Liu, Lanjiao & Li, Sien & Zhang, Fucang & Li, Zhijun, 2022. "Interactive effects of plant density and nitrogen rate on grain yield, economic benefit, water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of drip-fertigated maize in northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    5. Wang, Feng & Xiao, Junfu & Ming, Bo & Xie, Ruizhi & Wang, Keru & Hou, Peng & Liu, Guangzhou & Zhang, Guoqiang & Chen, Jianglu & Liu, Wanmao & Yang, Yunshan & Qin, Anzhen & Li, Shaokun, 2021. "Grain yields and evapotranspiration dynamics of drip-irrigated maize under high plant density across arid to semi-humid climates," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    6. Cheng, Minghui & Wang, Haidong & Fan, Junliang & Zhang, Shaohui & Wang, Yanli & Li, Yuepeng & Sun, Xin & Yang, Ling & Zhang, Fucang, 2021. "Water productivity and seed cotton yield in response to deficit irrigation: A global meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    7. Zhang, Yuanhong & Wang, Rui & Wang, Shulan & Ning, Fang & Wang, Hao & Wen, Pengfei & Li, Ao & Dong, Zhaoyang & Xu, Zonggui & Zhang, Yujiao & Li, Jun, 2019. "Effect of planting density on deep soil water and maize yield on the Loess Plateau of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Wenju Cai & Agus Santoso & Guojian Wang & Evan Weller & Lixin Wu & Karumuri Ashok & Yukio Masumoto & Toshio Yamagata, 2014. "Increased frequency of extreme Indian Ocean Dipole events due to greenhouse warming," Nature, Nature, vol. 510(7504), pages 254-258, June.
    9. Zheng, Huifang & Shao, Ruixin & Xue, Yanfang & Ying, Hao & Yin, Yulong & Cui, Zhenling & Yang, QingHua, 2020. "Water productivity of irrigated maize production systems in Northern China: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    10. Liu, Haijun & Wang, Xuming & Zhang, Xian & Zhang, Liwei & Li, Yan & Huang, Guanhua, 2017. "Evaluation on the responses of maize (Zea mays L.) growth, yield and water use efficiency to drip irrigation water under mulch condition in the Hetao irrigation District of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 144-157.
    11. Wenju Cai & Guojian Wang & Boris Dewitte & Lixin Wu & Agus Santoso & Ken Takahashi & Yun Yang & Aude Carréric & Michael J. McPhaden, 2018. "Increased variability of eastern Pacific El Niño under greenhouse warming," Nature, Nature, vol. 564(7735), pages 201-206, December.
    12. Tao Geng & Fan Jia & Wenju Cai & Lixin Wu & Bolan Gan & Zhao Jing & Shujun Li & Michael J. McPhaden, 2023. "Increased occurrences of consecutive La Niña events under global warming," Nature, Nature, vol. 619(7971), pages 774-781, July.
    13. Kang, Shaozhong & Hao, Xinmei & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Su, Xiaoling & Lu, Hongna & Li, Xiaolin & Huo, Zailin & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng, 2017. "Improving agricultural water productivity to ensure food security in China under changing environment: From research to practice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 5-17.
    14. Badr, M.A. & El-Tohamy, W.A. & Zaghloul, A.M., 2012. "Yield and water use efficiency of potato grown under different irrigation and nitrogen levels in an arid region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 9-15.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhu, Hongyan & Zheng, Bingyan & Nie, Weibo & Fei, Liangjun & Shan, Yuyang & Li, Ge & Liang, Fei, 2024. "Optimization of maize irrigation strategy in Xinjiang, China by AquaCrop based on a four-year study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    2. He, Rui & He, Min & Xu, Haidong & Zhang, Kun & Zhang, Mingcai & Ren, Dan & Li, Zhaohu & Zhou, Yuyi & Duan, Liusheng, 2023. "A novel plant growth regulator brazide improved maize water productivity in the arid region of Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    3. Wang, Feng & Xiao, Junfu & Ming, Bo & Xie, Ruizhi & Wang, Keru & Hou, Peng & Liu, Guangzhou & Zhang, Guoqiang & Chen, Jianglu & Liu, Wanmao & Yang, Yunshan & Qin, Anzhen & Li, Shaokun, 2021. "Grain yields and evapotranspiration dynamics of drip-irrigated maize under high plant density across arid to semi-humid climates," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    4. Wang, Feng & Xie, Ruizhi & Ming, Bo & Wang, Keru & Hou, Peng & Chen, Jianglu & Liu, Guangzhou & Zhang, Guoqiang & Xue, Jun & Li, Shaokun, 2021. "Dry matter accumulation after silking and kernel weight are the key factors for increasing maize yield and water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    5. Guoqiang Zhang & Dongping Shen & Bo Ming & Ruizhi Xie & Peng Hou & Jun Xue & Keru Wang & Shaokun Li, 2022. "Optimizing Planting Density to Increase Maize Yield and Water Use Efficiency and Economic Return in the Arid Region of Northwest China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Ren, Dongyang & Xu, Xu & Engel, Bernard & Huang, Quanzhong & Xiong, Yunwu & Huo, Zailin & Huang, Guanhua, 2021. "A comprehensive analysis of water productivity in natural vegetation and various crops coexistent agro-ecosystems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    7. Wu, Zhangsheng & Li, Yue & Wang, Rong & Xu, Xu & Ren, Dongyang & Huang, Quanzhong & Xiong, Yunwu & Huang, Guanhua, 2023. "Evaluation of irrigation water saving and salinity control practices of maize and sunflower in the upper Yellow River basin with an agro-hydrological model based method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    8. Chen, Dali & Bao, Jinglong & Chen, Tao & Bai, Mengjie & Pan, Jia & Yuan, Haiying & Wang, Yanrong & Nan, Zhibiao & Hu, Xiaowen, 2024. "Effect of drip irrigation and boron application on enhancing seed production of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    9. Miodrag Tolimir & Branka Kresović & Katarina Gajić & Violeta Anđelković & Milan Brankov & Marijana Dugalić & Boško Gajić, 2024. "Integrated effect of irrigation rate and plant density on yield, yield components and water use efficiency of maize," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 70(8), pages 475-482.
    10. Li, Cheng & Luo, Xiaoqi & Li, Yue & Wang, Naijiang & Zhang, Tibin & Dong, Qin’ge & Feng, Hao & Zhang, Wenxin & Siddique, Kadambot H.M., 2023. "Ridge planting with transparent plastic mulching improves maize productivity by regulating the distribution and utilization of soil water, heat, and canopy radiation in arid irrigation area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    11. Wang, Haidong & Wang, Naijiang & Quan, Hao & Zhang, Fucang & Fan, Junliang & Feng, Hao & Cheng, Minghui & Liao, Zhenqi & Wang, Xiukang & Xiang, Youzhen, 2022. "Yield and water productivity of crops, vegetables and fruits under subsurface drip irrigation: A global meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Hao, Baozhen & Ma, Jingli & Si, Shihua & Wang, Xiaojie & Wang, Shuli & Li, Fengmei & Jiang, Lina, 2024. "Response of grain yield and water productivity to plant density in drought-tolerant maize cultivar under irrigated and rainfed conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    13. Chen, Yang & Wang, Lu & Tong, Ling & Hao, Xinmei & Wu, Xuanyi & Ding, Risheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Sien, 2023. "Effects of biochar addition and deficit irrigation with brackish water on yield-scaled N2O emissions under drip irrigation with mulching," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    14. Tang, Jianzhao & Xiao, Dengpan & Wang, Jing & Fang, Quanxiao & Zhang, Jun & Bai, Huizi, 2021. "Optimizing water and nitrogen managements for potato production in the agro-pastoral ecotone in North China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    15. Dai, Yulong & Liao, Zhenqi & Lai, Zhenlin & Bai, Zhentao & Zhang, Fucang & Li, Zhijun & Fan, Junliang, 2023. "Interactive effects of planting pattern, supplementary irrigation and planting density on grain yield, water-nitrogen use efficiency and economic benefit of winter wheat in a semi-humid but drought-prone region of northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    16. Bai, Yu & Gao, Jinhua, 2021. "Optimization of the nitrogen fertilizer schedule of maize under drip irrigation in Jilin, China, based on DSSAT and GA," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    17. Zong, Rui & Wang, Zhenhua & Zhang, Jinzhu & Li, Wenhao, 2021. "The response of photosynthetic capacity and yield of cotton to various mulching practices under drip irrigation in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    18. Wang, Xiukang & Guo, Tao & Wang, Yi & Xing, Yingying & Wang, Yanfeng & He, Xiaolong, 2020. "Exploring the optimization of water and fertilizer management practices for potato production in the sandy loam soils of Northwest China based on PCA," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    19. Wang, Lichun & Ning, Songrui & Chen, Xiaoli & Li, Youli & Guo, Wenzhong & Ben-Gal, Alon, 2021. "Modeling tomato root water uptake influenced by soil salinity under drip irrigation with an inverse method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    20. repec:caa:jnlpse:v:preprint:id:155-2024-pse is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Li, Xiaojie & Kang, Shaozhong & Zhang, Xiaotao & Li, Fusheng & Lu, Hongna, 2018. "Deficit irrigation provokes more pronounced responses of maize photosynthesis and water productivity to elevated CO2," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 71-83.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:317:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425003853. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.