Optimized fertilizer management strategy based on ridge–furrow planting pattern enhances dryland wheat yield and water utilization on the Loess Plateau

Rain-fed agroecosystems require integrated strategies to synchronize water and nitrogen use for sustainable production. To investigate the mechanisms by which ridge–furrow planting (RP), coupled with optimal N rate (90, 135, 180 kg N ha⁻¹), enhances soil water utilization, yield formation, and water productivity (WP) in dryland wheat systems, a three-year split-plot field experiment (2018–2021) was designed to compare RP against flat planting (FP) under semi-arid rainfall variability. Results showed that RP improved rainwater infiltration into deeper soil layers, increasing soil water storage by 4.3–8.0 % at jointing and elevating soil water use rate by prioritizing deep-layer extraction during critical growth stages. RP combined with optimized N rates achieved the highest grain yield (25.9 %, 15.3 %, and 10.8 % increases in dry, normal, and wet years) and WP by harmonizing water-N synergies. Enhanced post-anthesis water extraction from 160–200 cm layers under RP significantly boosted dry matter accumulation. Correlation analyses revealed that spike number in dry years correlated with pre-anthesis water use in the 80–160 cm layer (P < 0.01), kernels per spike in normal years aligned with balanced pre-/post-anthesis allocation across 0–200 cm (P < 0.05), and 1000-grain weight in wet years depended on post-anthesis extraction from 160–200 cm (P < 0.01), synergistically driving yield gains. RP integrated with adaptive nitrogen thresholds (90–180 kg ha⁻¹) is recommended to stabilize yields and maximize WP in rain-fed systems. This strategy provides a scalable pathway to strengthen climate resilience and sustainable resource utilization in water-limited agroecosystems. • Ridge-furrow planting (RP) enhances soil water storage via deep infiltration. • RP improves water-N synergy, amplifying N efficiency for yield gains. • RP maximizes yield and water productivity gains (up to 26 %) in dry years. • RP with optimal N rates achieves highest yield and water productivity. • Yield components drive grain yield via stratified water use across rainfall years.