Taking winter wheat cultivar Xiaoyan 22 as test material, a field experiment with central composite rotatable design was conducted to investigate the effects of seeding rate and nitrogen (N) fertilization rate on the physiological traits of the cultivar after anthesis under ridge-furrow cultivation with plastic film mulching, aimed to harmonize the relationships between winter wheat population and its individuals and to fully use the advantages of ridge-furrow cultivation in dry land areas. With increasing N fertilization rate, the leaf area index and the flag leaf chlorophyll content and net photosynthesis rate after anthesis increased; with increasing seeding rate, the leaf area index increased first and was stable then at early and middle milking stages but decreased at later milking stage, the flag leaf chlorophyll content and net photosynthesis rate decreased, and the grain yield per plant increased after an initial decrease. Appropriate seeding rate could optimize the relationships between winter wheat population and its individuals, and optimal N fertilization rate benefited the improvement of winter wheat physiological traits after anthesis and the enhancement of winter wheat yield. Under our experimental condition, seeding rate 112.5 kg x hm(-2) plus N fertilization rate 180-222 kg N x hm(-2) is a scheme beneficial to optimize the relationships between winter wheat population and its individuals and to establish a good winter wheat community structure with a reasonable leaf area index after anthesis, higher flag leaf chlorophyll content and net photosynthesis rate, higher grain yield per plant, and high yield per unit area.