RESUMEN
Unscientific fertilization, unstable grain quality, and low profit are the key problems on wheat production in slope cropland of Western Hubei. To solve these problems, three optimized planting patterns (high nitrogen and potassium reduction, HNPR; medium nitrogen and potassium reductionm, MNPR; low nitrogen and potassium reduction, LNPR) were conducted during two consecutive years to assess their effects on wheat yield, quality, profit, and fertilizer use efficiency in Danjiangkou Reservoir area, a typical slope cropland region with wheat-maize rotation. The results showed that the application of chemical fertilizer significantly increased grain yield (GY) and wet gluten content (WGC) of wheat. Compared with the conventional planting pattern (CK), the partial factor productivity (PFPK) and agricultural fertilizer use efficiency (AFUEK) of potassium were significantly improved in the three optimized planting patterns. The dry matter amount (DMA), GY, and crude protein content (CPC) were the highest under HNPR, which increased by 9.4%, 19.4%, and 7.8% than CK, respectively. Such a result indicated that HNPR benefited wheat to exploit high yield potential. WGC and falling number (FN) were the highest under MNPR, and increased by 3.9%, and 9.3% than CK, respectively, which was suitable for high-efficiency production of medium-gluten wheat. PFPN, AFUEN, PFPK, AFUEK, and net profit were the highest under LNPR, which increased by 15.7%, 134.1%, 131.3%, 368.2%, and 37.3% than CK, respectively, while the CPC and WGC were decreased by 2.1% and 2.6% than CK, respectively, suggesting it was suitable for environment-friendly and simplified production of weak-gluten wheat production. Our results could provide a reference for wheat production in the slope cropland.