China Agricultural Museum

Global imperatives call for reduced water consumption in homogeneous, intensive farming systems, where farmland landscape heterogeneity significantly impacts anthropogenic, ecological, and socioeconomic factors. However, the impact of this heterogeneity on crop water footprint (WF) remains uncertain. To address this, this study assessed the WF at the landscape scale across 616 subplots (1 × 1 km) in a representative county of North China Plain from 2013 to 2019, integrating green (WFgreen), blue (WFblue), and gray (WFgray) water footprints. Results showed that the winter wheat–summer maize double cropping pattern (WM) exhibited the highest WFgreen, WFblue, and WFgray. Over six years, most subplots saw significant reductions in WFgreen, WFblue, WFgray, and WF. At the landscape scale, diversification (compositional heterogeneity), fragmentation, and spatial distribution (configurational heterogeneity) were assessed using Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI), edge density (ED), and effective mesh size (MESH), which exhibited average variations of 0.07, −3.16 m ha−1, and −5.86 m2, respectively. For WM patches, the percentage of landscape (PLAND) and MESH were used to evaluate diversification and spatial distribution, resulting in reductions of 1.14% and 2.32 m2, respectively. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling further illuminated the connections between the landscape pattern and WF, emphasizing the significant role of MESH in reducing WFblue and influencing crop diversity (p < 0.001). Therefore, spatial distribution, whether directly or through the mediation of diversification, demonstrated a more substantial overall impact on WF. Consequently, future research should prioritize investigating how spatial distribution influences crop choice and agronomic management in order to determine the optimal cropping patterns and field size that strike a balance between crop production and the water footprint. This study offers theoretical guidance and a scientific foundation for redesigning farmland landscapes to bolster water sustainability in intensive farming systems.

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of silicon and phosphatic fertilization on rice yield and soil fertility. Three levels of silicon (Si) fertilization i.e., SiO2: 45, 135, and 225 kg hm−2 and the two phosphatic fertilizer i.e., P2O5: 15 and 45 kg hm−2 for each of calcium superphosphate (CS) and combined calcium-magnesium phosphate (FCMP) (used as phosphatic fertilizer source) were applied to a rice cultivar “II you 128”. The treatment applied with P2O5 45 kg hm−2 CS and without Si fertilization was taken as control (CK). The grain yield was improved with increasing Si fertilizer application, whereas phosphatic fertilization also affected the grain yield significantly. The FCMP showed better grain yield than CS whereas the interactive effect of Si and CS fertilizer showed higher Si contents in stem sheath, available Si in soil, water-soluble Si contents in soil and soil active Si contents but lower available phosphorus in soil and soil phosphatase activity than the Si and FCMP fertilizer interaction. Moreover, the grain yield showed significant positive correlation with aboveground dry weight (r = 0.9951) and harvest index (r = 0.8364). Overall, Si fertilization improved rice yield, whereas FCMP was found better than CS regarding grain yield improvement. The grain yield increased with increasing Si fertilizer application whereas the FCMP was found better than CS regarding grain yield improvement of rice. The supplementation of Si and phosphatic fertilizers substantially improved available Si and P contents of soil.