Application of Mulching Materials of Rainfall Harvesting System for Improving Soil Water and Corn Growth in Northwest of China

Abstract

The ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting (RFRH) system is used for dryland crop production in northwest China. To determine the effects of RFRH using different mulching materials on corn growth and water use efficiency (WUE), a field experiment was conducted during 2008-2010 at the Heyang Dryland Experimental Station. Four treatments were used in the study. Furrows received uncovered mulching in all RFRH treatments whereas ridges were mulched with plastic film (PF), biodegradable film (BF), or liquid film (LF). A conventional flat field without mulching was used as the control (CK). The results indicated that the average soil water storage at depths of 0-200 cm were 8.2 and 7.3%, respectively higher with PF and BF than with CK. However, LF improved soil water storage during the early growth stage of the crop. Compared with CK, the corn yields with PF and BF were increased by 20.4 and 19.4%, respectively, and WUE with each treatment increased by 23.3 and 21.7%, respectively. There were no significant differences in the corn yield or WUE with the PF and BF treatments. The net income was highest with PF, followed by BF, and the three-year average net incomes with these treatments were increased by 2559 and 2430 CNY ha-1 , respectively, compared with CK. BF and PF had similar effects in enhancing the soil water content, crop yield, and net income. Therefore, it can be concluded that biodegradable film may be a sustainable ecological alternative to plastic film for use in the RFRH system in northwest China.

Benchmarking the Agronomic Performance of Biodegradable Mulches against Polyethylene Mulch Film: A Meta-Analysis

“…Detecting soil moisture conservation benefits of mulches can be difficult given confounding influences of crop and weed growth, precipitation, and irrigation. Nonetheless, in all studies reviewed here, soil moisture beneath BDMs was equal to or greater than in PEM [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]).…”

Mulching: A viable option to increase productivity of field and fruit crops

“…Singh et al (2011) observed increased soil water content and improved crop growth and yield determining attributes of wheat under mulch and found that mulch suppressed whole of season soil evaporation by 35-40 mm. Han et al (2013) reported 8.2 and 7.3% average soil water storage at depths of 0-200 cm, 20.4 and 19.4% grain yield and 23.3 and 21.7% water use efficiency (WUE) higher with plastic film and biodegradable film than no mulch, respectively in maize crop. In another study, immediate maize post harvest tillage with mulch application (maize straw mulch @ 5 t/ha) showed about 3 times higher soil moisture conservation efficiency than control (Sharma et al, 2013).…”

Plastic-Covered Ridge-Furrow Planting Combined with Supplemental Irrigation Based on Measuring Soil Moisture Promotes Wheat Grain Yield and Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Irrigated Fields on the Loess Plateau, China

“…Some studies also believe that plastic film can cause white pollution, which limits the application of plastic film coverage in agriculture [26]. However, with the progress of science and technology, degradable plastic film, liquid plastic film, and other new eco-friendly plastic films are available which can be applied in production [29][30][31][32]. The application of these new types of plastic film reduces the environmental pollution caused by the degradation of plastic film cover and will play a good role in promoting the application of plastic film in agriculture.…”