The Characteristics of Annual Water Consumption for Winter Wheat and Summer Maize in North China Plain

Winter wheat and summer maize double cropping systems was the main patterns in North China. Many researchers had studied the water consumption of winter wheat and summer maize, but the annual water consumption of that double cropping systems was more significantly on water-saving. Field experiments were conducted in 2009-2011 to study the annual water consumption characteristics using energy balance approach in North China Plain. Results revealed that the average ETa and water consumption rate (WCR) of the winter wheat growth season were 444.53 mm and 1.81 mm/d respectively, and the highest value recorded for ETa and WCR were during the anthesis to maturity stage. The average ETa and WCR of the summer maize growing season were 358.04 mm and 3.39 mm/d respectively. The annual ETa and WCR were about 831.05 mm and 2.28 mm/d respectively. The ETa of winter wheat accounted for the largest proportion of annual ETa, followed by summer maize. The ETa of non-growing season was 28.48 mm, only taking the proportion by 3.43%. In short, the water consumption of winter wheat was more than that of summer maize, while the water consumption of winter wheat was lower than that of summer maize.