Abstract: A field experiment with 10 wheat cultivars was conducted to study  the water consumption characteristics at different growth stages and the differences in the grain yield of the cultivars. Three irrigation treatments were installed, i.e., no irrigation (W₀), irrigation before sowing and at jointing stage (W₁), and irrigation before sowing and at jointing and anthesis stages (W₂), with irrigation amount 60 mm each time. Based on the cluster analysis with the parameters grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE) in the three treatments, the test ten cultivars could be divided into three groups, i.e., high yield and high WUE (Group I), high yield and medium WUE (Group Ⅱ), and medium yield and low WUE (Group Ⅲ). The average values of grain yield and WUE in each group were calculated to elucidate the water consumption characteristics of the three groups. In treatment W₀, the total water consumption amount in the whole growth period, the water consumption amount from anthesis to maturing stages and its proportion to the total water consumption amount of Group I were lower than those of Group Ⅱ and Group Ⅲ, but the grain yield of Group I was the highest. In treatment W₁, the water consumption amount from jointing to anthesis stages and its proportion to total water consumption amount of Group I were lower than those of Group Ⅱ and Group Ⅲ, but the water consumption amount from anthesis to maturing stages had no significant differences among Group I, Group Ⅱ, and Group Ⅲ. In treatment W₂, the total soil water consumption amount, water consumption amount from jointing to anthesis stages and its proportion to total water consumption amount of Group I were lower than those of Group Ⅱ and Group Ⅲ, while the water consumption amount from anthesis to maturity stages and its proportion to total water consumption amount of both Group I and Group Ⅲ were lower than those of Group Ⅱ. In terms of high-yield and water-saving under the present experimental condition, it was implicated that the most appropriate cultivars might fall into the Group I with high yield and high WUE, and the most appropriate irrigation regime with high yield and low water consumption was treatment W₁, i.e., irrigated 60 mm each time before sowing and at jointing stage.

Key words: wheat, cultivar, water consumption characteristics, grain yield, water use efficiency