Infiltration and Water Use Efficiency of Maize Fields with Drip Irrigation and Biodegradable Mulches in the West Liaohe Plain, China

Abstract

Biodegradable mulches have the same temperature- and moisture-preservation effects as ordinary plastic mulches before degradation. After degradation, rainwater enters the soil through the damaged parts, improving precipitation utilization. Under drip irrigation with mulching, this study explores precipitation utilization of biodegradable mulches under different precipitation intensities and the effects of different biodegradable mulches on the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of spring maize in the West Liaohe Plain, China. In this paper, in situ field observation experiments were conducted for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018. Three types of white degradable mulch films were set up, with induction periods of 60 d (WM60), 80 d (WM80), and 100 d (WM100). Three types of black degradable mulch films were also used, with induction periods of 60 d (BM60), 80 d (BM80), and 100 d (BM100). Precipitation utilization, yield, and WUE under biodegradable mulches were studied, with ordinary plastic mulches (PM) and bare land (CK) set as controls. The results showed that as precipitation increased, the effective infiltration of precipitation decreased first and then increased. When precipitation reached 89.21 mm, plastic film mulching no longer affected precipitation utilization. Under the same precipitation intensity, the precipitation effective infiltration ratio increased as the damage to the biodegradable film increased. Still, the intensity of this increase gradually decreased as the damage increased. The highest yield and WUE were observed for the degradable mulch film with an induction period of 60 days in years with normal rainfall and for the degradable mulch film with an induction period of 100 days in dry years. In the West Liaohe Plain, maize planted under film receives drip irrigation. We recommend that growers select a degradable mulch film with a degradation rate of 36.64% and an induction period of approximately 60 days in years with normal rainfall, and a degradable mulch film with an induction period of 100 days in dry years.

A Review of Plastic Film Mulching on Water, Heat, Nitrogen Balance, and Crop Growth in Farmland in China

“…Film mulching significantly improves the yield factor and biomass yield, thereby increasing the grain yield, which is related to the IPAR and nutrient absorption [62]. The impact of plastic film mulching on crop yield is influenced by the soil water and heat conditions, and film mulching can significantly increase crop yield under sufficient rainfall conditions due to the provision of suitable soil water conditions [70]. Full-film mulching demonstrates a significant increase in yield compared with partial-film mulching, because full-film mulching can provide more suitable hydrothermal conditions than partial-film mulching, and improvements in hydrothermal conditions induced by partial-film mulching are limited [62].…”

“…where K is the compensation coefficient of the increasing effect of film mulching on air temperature; T cum-a-FM and T cum-a-NM are the effective air accumulation temperature under film mulching and no mulching conditions, respectively ( • C); T cum-s-FM is the effective soil accumulation temperature at a 5 cm soil depth under film mulching conditions ( • C); T cum-s-NM-FM is the effective soil accumulation temperature at a 5 cm soil depth under no mulching conditions during the same period as under the film mulching ( • C); ∆T is the compensation value for the soil temperature increase under film mulching conditions to air temperature ( • C); and T s-FM and T s-NM are the daily average soil temperatures at 5 cm soil depths under film mulching and no mulching conditions ( • C). Crop models under plastic film mulching conditions have been established by integrating the above process, including the impacts of film mulching on the boundary conditions of soil water and heat transport, and crop growth and development stages into existing models such as SWAP, AquaCrop, DNDC (denitrification-decomposition), and WHCNS (water-heat-carbon-nitrogen system) models [68][69][70]. The models have been verified, obtaining good applicability in soil water and heat dynamics and crop growth processes under film mulching conditions in maize fields in northwest and northeast China, and in rice fields in southern China [76,77].…”

Decision of Straw Deep Burial and Aluminum Sulfate Drip Irrigation in Soda Saline Soil Based on Grey Relation Analysis and TOPSIS Coupling

“…How to effectively improve soda salt land has become an important issue that urgently needs to be solved [3]. Relevant scholars [4,5] have extensively explored the causes of saline-alkali land formation and its challenges to agricultural productivity, delving deeply into integrated strategies for effective farmland management. Among them, aluminum sulfate, a chemical modifier, has been widely used in research concerning saline-alkali soil due to its characteristics of rapidly improving soil physicochemical properties and providing an excellent external environment for crop growth [6].…”