With the continuous growth in the global population, rapid socioeconomic development, and the impacts of factors like climate change, we are facing increasingly severe challenges regarding water scarcity. The scientific and rational allocation of water resources has become a key factor in ensuring sustainable development. The Henan Yellow River water supply zone occupies a crucial position in the socioeconomic development of Henan Province. Currently, there is a shortage of water resources with relatively low utilization rates. To alleviate the contradiction between water supply and demand, a study on the optimization of water resources (with p = 90%) for the years 2025 and 2030 was conducted. In this study, we constructed a multi-objective optimization model with the objectives of maximizing economic benefits, minimizing total water shortage, and maximizing water use efficiency. The second-generation non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was utilized to solve this model. The results indicate that by 2025, the optimized allocation of water resources will correspond to 17.663 billion m³, reducing the average water shortage rate in the research area to 9.69%. By 2030, the optimized allocation of water resources will further increase to 18.363 billion m³, bringing down the average water shortage rate to 8.34%. Concurrently, the supply structure of the research area will significantly improve after optimization. This is manifested through an increase in the proportion of surface water supply and a substantial rise in the proportion of supply from other water sources, while the proportion of groundwater supply noticeably decreases. These research findings can serve as a reference for the rational utilization and distribution of water resources in the future and can also offer insights for optimizing water resource allocation in other regions.

A drought event can cause yield loss or entire crops to fail. In order to study the effects of continuous drought on physiological characteristics, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the variety “Zhoumai 22” was grown in controlled water conditions of the pot-planted winter wheat under a mobile rainout shelter. Foot planting and safe wintering were used to evaluate, winter wheat under different drought conditions, including light, moderate and severe drought at the jointing, heading, and filling stages. The soil water content was controlled at 60–70%, 50–60%, or 40–50% of field capacity. Experimental trials included 3 pre-anthesis drought hardening, 3 three-stage continuous drought, and 1 test control conditions. Under drought stress conditions, winter wheat leaf water potential, soil plant analysis development (SPAD), photosynthesis parameters, and yield declined due to pre-anthesis drought hardening. And the degree of decline: continuous drought > pre-anthesis drought hardening. Changes in the post-anthesis photosynthetic capacity of winter wheat were mainly related to the pre-anthesis drought level, rather than post-anthesis rehydration. The threshold of non-stomata limiting factors caused by photosynthesis at the filling stage is 40–50%FC, while comprehensive yield and WUE affected, the yield in severe drought treatments was the most significant, B3C3 and B3C3G3 decreased by 55.68% and 55.88%, respectively. Pre-anthesis drought was the main reason for the decreased crop yield. Thus, severe drought should be avoided during planting, while pre-anthesis light drought is a suitable choice for water-saving and crop production, as proper pre-anthesis drought hardening (60–70% FC) is feasible and effective.

A vegetable water production function has been one of the most significant parameters to improve the use efficiency and economic benefit of agricultural water in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, aerated irrigation unlocks the high yield potential for greenhouse crop production. Thus, water, fertilizer and air coupled production function is proposed for the optimization of the irrigation scheme during the greenhouse tomato growth period. Two seasons of greenhouse tomato experiments were conducted under aerated subsurface drip irrigation (ASDI). There were three nitrogen application rates (N₁, 120 kg ha⁻¹; N₂, 180 kg ha⁻¹; N₃, 240 kg ha⁻¹) and three aeration rates with dissolved oxygen (DO) in irrigation water (A₂, 15 mg L⁻¹; A₃, 40 mg L⁻¹ and A₁, 5 mg L⁻¹ in the non-aeration treatment) in the first crop season, while three irrigation rates of soil moisture content (W₁, 50–60% field capacity; W₂, 60–70% field capacity; W₃, 70–80% field capacity) and two aeration rates with DO in irrigation water (25 mg L⁻¹ and 5 mg L⁻¹) in the second crop season. The potential yield function of tomato was constructed, and the water sensitivity index was resolved. The production function of greenhouse tomato under water, fertilizer, and air coupled irrigation was established based on the Jensen function. The water allocation scheme under multiple irrigation quotas was optimized by the dynamic programming (DP) method. The results showed that with the elapse of crop growth stages, the cumulative curve of the water sensitivity index showed an S-shaped curve, which first rose slowly and then fast, and eventually tended to be stable. The optimized irrigation increased the yield by 4.25% averagely compared with the irrigation method of fixed moisture content interval, while the crop yield in the optimized ASDI increased by 26.13% compared with non-aeration treatment. In summary, the optimal combination was the aeration rate DO of 24.55mg L⁻¹ in irrigation water and nitrogen application rate of 281.43 kg ha⁻¹, and the irrigation quota of 420 mm. The net yield increased by 11,012 USD ha⁻¹ in a single crop season when compared with the non-aeration treatment. The results would provide a reference method for the optimization of technical parameters of water—fertilizer—air coupled irrigation.

A drought event can cause entire crops to fail or yield loss. In order to study the effects of continuous drought on photosynthetic characteristics, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), the winter wheat variety “Aikang 58” was selected as test material with controlling the water of the pot-planted winter wheat under a mobile rainout shelter. Based on foot planting and safe wintering, winter wheat was evaluated under different drought conditions, including light, moderate and severe drought at the jointing (B), heading (C), and filling (G) stages. The soil water content was controlled in a range of 60% to 70%, 50% to 60%, and 40% to 50% of the field capacity, respectively. In the experiment, there were 9 single-stage droughts, 3 three-stage droughts, and 1 test control (totaling 13 trials). The results are as follows: Under a single-stage drought, the change of net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (Gs) have similar trends, and they both decrease significantly with the severity of the drought. Under three-stage continuous droughts, the change curve of Gs shows a constant downward trend; the change curve of Pn showed a “valley shape,” and the minimum value of Pn appeared at the heading stage. All droughts will reduce the yield of winter wheat. Under the three-stage continuous drought conditions, except for light drought, moderate drought and severe drought will cause significant yield reduction, mainly due to lack of water at the jointing and heading stages. Continuous drought will reduce the WUE, and the difference will reach a significant level under moderate and severe drought. The present results suggested that when water resources are scarce, it is a better irrigation model to save water and achieve high grain yield by applying appropriate water stress (60%–70% FC) during the critical growth period of winter wheat.