In order to study the characteristics of carbon sources and sinks in the winter wheat farmland ecosystem in southwest hilly region of China, the LI6400-09 respiratory chamber was adopted in the experiment conducted in the experimental field in Southwest University in Chongqing. The soil respiration and plant growth dynamics were analyzed during the growth period of wheat in the triple intercropping system of wheat-maize-soybean. Four treatments including T (traditional tillage), R (ridge tillage), TS (traditional tillage + straw mulching), and RS (ridge tillage + straw mulching) were designed. Root biomass regression (RR) and root exclusion (RE) were used to compare the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration. The results showed that the average soil respiration rate was 1.71 micromol x (m2 x s)(-1) with a variation of 0.62-2.91 micromol x (m2 x s)(-1). Significant differences in soil respiration rate were detected among different treatments. The average soil respiration rate of T, R, TS and RS were 1.29, 1.59, 1.99 and 1.96 micromol x (m2 x s)(-1), respectively. R treatment did not increase the soil respiration rate significantly until the jointing stage. Straw mulching treatment significantly increased soil respiration, with a steadily high rate during the whole growth period. During the 169 days of growth, the total soil respiration was 2 266.82, 2799.52, 3 483.73 and 3 443.89 kg x hm(-2) while the cumulative aboveground biomasses were 51 800.84, 59 563.20, 66 015.37 and 7 1331.63 kg x hm(-2). Compared with the control, the yield of R, TS and RS increased by 14.99%, 27.44% and 37.70%, respectively. The contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration was 47.05% by RBR, while it was 53.97% by RE. In the early growth period, the carbon source was weak. The capacity of carbon sink started to increase at the jointing stage and reached the maximum during the filling stage. The carbon budget of wheat field was 5 924.512, 6743.807, 8350.741, 8 876.115 kg x hm(-2), respectively. The results indicated that ridge tillage and straw mulching conservation tillage significantly improved the carbon sink in the wheat farmland ecosystem.