Optimizing farmers’ crop production management is an effective strategy to synergize yields, resource utilization, and environmental conservation. However, the mechanisms by which agronomic management in the North China Plain (NCP) determines the wheat yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and physiological performance remain largely unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, a field experiment was conducted from 2022 to 2024 to investigate the effects of conventional farmer practices (CK) and a Integrated High-Yield and Efficiency Cultivation Management (HHL) strategy incorporating pre-sowing soil moisture creation, optimized tillage, fertilization, and irrigation on the yield, water consumption characteristics, leaf photosynthetic physiology, and root traits. The results demonstrated that HHL significantly enhanced the root morphology in winter wheat compared to CK. Specifically, HHL increased the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), chlorophyll content, and leaf area index (LAI) at the flowering stage by 20.5%, 8.8%, and 11.1%, respectively, thereby boosting dry matter accumulation by 40.3% and yields by 10.9%. Furthermore, HHL reduced soil water evaporation by 12.1% and the total water consumption by 112.1 mm, while improving the WUE by 25.4% and nitrogen fertilizer partial productivity by 38.7%, alongside a 12.5% increase in economic benefits. Through rigorous field experimentation, this study elucidates the potential of HHL in water conservation, yield enhancement, and comprehensive benefit improvement, offering an effective cultivation paradigm for the wheat production systems in the NCP. The findings indicate that this management strategy exhibits superior water-saving and yield-enhancing effects, with promising prospects for widespread adoption and application.

Delayed sowing frequently occurs in the North China Plain (NCP), restricting pre-winter population establishment and reducing grain yield. To determine whether narrow row spacing can alleviate yield loss under delayed sowing by improving the pre-winter stem and tiller basis, a randomized block experiment with two row spacings and four sowing-date regimes with adjusted planting density was conducted from 2021 to 2024. Yield components, pre-winter stem and tiller number and quality, and anatomical and physiological traits of the main-stem base and tiller nodes were measured. The results showed that 7.5 cm narrow row spacing (R2) increased tiller occurrence and improved hormonal balance and non-structural carbohydrate accumulation in the main-stem base and tiller nodes, and was associated with enhanced anatomical structural integrity and pre-winter stem and tiller quality. R2 increased final spike number, grain number per spike, thousand-grain weight, and grain yield by an average of 2.8%, 8.6%, 3.9%, and 10.7%, respectively, with the greatest yield increase under moderately delayed sowing (S2, 17.7%), and structural equation modeling (SEM) supported this possible yield-increasing pathway (χ²/df = 1.38, GFI = 0.90).These results provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for stabilizing and increasing yield in delayed-sown winter wheat in the NCP.

In the North China Plain (NCP), wind and rain during the grain-filling period of winter wheat can cause lodging. The second basal internode (I2), a key load-bearing structure, plays a central role in yield stability. This study, under a constant nitrogen (N) application rate of 270 kg ha⁻¹, aimed to clarify how nitrogen basal-to-topdressing ratios regulate I2 characteristics to balance lodging resistance and yield increase. Field experiments were conducted across two seasons with three cultivars and three nitrogen split ratios (5:5, CK; 3:7, N1; and 7:3, N2). Dynamic measurements of I2 mechanical properties, morphology, anatomy, and composition were taken, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for analysis. Results showed that the culm lodging resistance index (CLRI) decreased by 41.8% from flowering to milk stage under all treatments, with CLRI at the milk stage of lodging treatments between 0.11 and 0.15. SEM supported a composition–structure–lodging resistance–yield chain, with CLRI as the key mediator. The N1 treatment significantly improved CLRI at all stages and increased yield by 12.2% compared to CK, making it a recommended nitrogen strategy for improving both yield and lodging resistance. These findings provide agronomically applicable nitrogen management guidelines for high-yield winter wheat systems.