Plastic-Film Mulching for Enhanced Water-Use Efficiency and Economic Returns from Maize Fields in Semiarid China

Zhang, Peng; Wei, Ting; Cai, Tommaso; Ali, Shahzad; Han, Qingfang; Ren, Xiaolong; Jia, Zhikuan

doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.00512

Cited by 47 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In the current study, plant height, shoot and root biomass, SPAD readings, and ear weight and number were greater for all black plastic BDM and PE mulch treatments compared with bare ground, WeedGuardPlus, and Clear Organix AG treatments. Other studies have also reported increased sweet corn plant vigor and yield with the use of PE mulches compared with bare ground (Rajablariani and Sheykhmohamady, 2015;Xu et al, 2015;Zandstra et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…These benefits can lead to earlier harvest and increased crop yield (Liu et al, 2009;Steinmetz et al, 2016). Zhang et al (2017) evaluated the effects of PE mulch (8 mm, Gansu Tianbao Plastic Plant, China) on soil temperature, soil moisture, water use efficiency (WUE; yield per unit water), yield, and revenue of grain corn. Soil temperatures (5 to 25 cm deep) and soil moisture (0 to 200 cm deep) were greater in field plots with PE mulch than in bare ground, leading to increased WUE and yield in the PE mulch treatment.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These effects were larger for corn than wheat, and effects tended to decrease with increasing water inputs. Plastic (primarily PE) mulch is used to optimize crop water usage in regions such as northeast China (Xu et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2017), while its potential to enhance soil warming is more important in other regions such as Canada (Waterer, 2010;Zandstra et al, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, farmers in northwest Washington have been using black PE mulch for sweet corn production, with the objective of achieving earlier harvests with price premiums. While clear PE mulch is extensively used for sweet corn production in northeast China, France, and Germany, its use is not common in the United States (Xu et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2017). Currently for sweet corn production, nonbiodegradable PE mulch is most widely used.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Soil-biodegradable Mulches for Growth, Yield, and Quality of Sweet Corn in a Mediterranean-type Climate

Ghimire¹,

Scheenstra²,

Miles³

2020

horts

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Plastic mulch is commonly used to produce many vegetable crops because of its potential to decrease days to harvest, control weeds, and improve soil moisture conservation. However, use of plastic mulch is relatively new for sweet corn (Zea mays L.) in North America. We compared five plastic soil-biodegradable mulches [BDMs; Bio360, Organix AG, Clear Organix AG, Naturecycle, and Experimental polylactic acid/polyhydroxyalkanoates (Metabolix, Inc., Cambridge, MA)] and a paper mulch (WeedGuardPlus) against standard black polyethylene (PE; nonbiodegradable) mulch and bare ground cultivation for growth, yield, and quality of sweet corn cultivar Xtra Tender 2171. This field experiment was carried out in Mount Vernon, WA, which has a Mediterranean-type climate with an average air temperature of 16.1 °C during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. The experiment was drip irrigated; and in both years, preemergence herbicides were applied to the entire experimental area 1 to 2 days after seeding, and post-emergence herbicides were applied to alleys. While most mulches remained intact until the end of the growing season, Clear Organix AG started to split shortly after laying, resulting in significant weed pressure by midseason in both 2017 and 2018. Plant height toward the end of the season was lowest for plants grown on bare ground, intermediate for Clear Organix AG and WeedGuardPlus, and highest for the black plastic BDM and PE mulch treatments both years, except for Bio360 in 2018 where plant height was intermediate. Days to 50% tasseling and 50% silking were delayed 9 and 13 days, respectively, for bare ground and WeedGuardPlus compared with all other treatments in both years. Marketable ear yield was highest with the black plastic BDMs and PE mulch and lowest with bare ground, WeedGuardPlus, and Clear Organix AG treatments in both years. Total soluble solid content of kernels, and length and diameter of ears grown on the plastic BDM and PE mulch treatments were equal to or greater than, but never lower than, bare ground and WeedGuardPlus. These results indicate that growth, yield, and quality of sweet corn grown with black plastic BDMs are comparable to PE mulch, making black plastic BDMs an effective alternative to black PE mulch for sweet corn production in a Mediterranean-type climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Soil-biodegradable Mulches for Growth, Yield, and Quality of Sweet Corn in a Mediterranean-type Climate

Ghimire¹,

Scheenstra²,

Miles³

2020

horts

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“…The climate conditions during the maize cropping season were more favourable in the first year, with higher temperatures and more hours of sunshine than in the second year (Figure 1). However, the effect of FM on increasing maize yields was much better in the second year than in the first year because FM warmed the soil and prevented water loss under more severe soil conditions with low temperatures and less precipitation (Yi, Shenjiao, Shiqing, Xinping, & Fang, 2010;Zhang et al, 2017). Net primary production (NPP) provided the primary input of C to the soil and was sensitive to climate conditions.…”

Section: Crop Productivity and Net Primary Production (Npp)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Depletion of soil organic carbon stocks are larger under plastic film mulching for maize

Lee

Hwang

Park

et al. 2019

European J Soil Science

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To determine the effect of plastic film mulching (FM) on changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, the annual C balances were determined by analysing the net ecosystem C budget (NECB), which means the difference between total C input and output, under FM and with no mulching for 2 years. Plots with black FM and no mulching were installed as the main treatment, and chemical and organic fertilizer plots were placed within each main plot as sub‐treatments. In the organic fertilizer treatment, a mixture of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) was cultivated as a cover crop during fallow seasons, and its whole biomass (9.1–13.9 Mg ha−1, DW) was recycled as green manure. Plastic film mulching significantly increased the maize yield (p < 0.001), mainly because of improved soil moisture and temperature conditions. This stimulated growth under FM, increased the net primary production (NPP) of maize by 3.8–4.7 and 5.0–5.2 Mg C ha−1 over no mulching in the chemical and organic fertilizer treatments, respectively. However, FM increased the loss of mineralized C by an average of 2.6 and 3.7 Mg C ha−1 over the no‐mulching plots for the same treatments. Because the whole aboveground biomass of maize was removed, the annual NECB had a large negative value under all treatments. For the chemical fertilizer treatment, the annual NECB was minus 6.1–7.1 Mg C ha−1 year−1 under no mulching, but under FM it decreased to minus 7.9–8.9 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Cover cropping and its biomass recycling, however, increased the annual NECB by 43–48% and 25–26% with no mulching and FM, respectively. Therefore, cover cropping and the recycling of its biomass and crop residues are more likely to sustain SOC stocks under the FM system. Highlights Film mulching significantly increased maize yields and net primary production. Film mulching significantly increased respired C loss in soil. Film mulching significantly decreased soil C stock. Cover cropping and incorporation of its biomass increased soil C stock.

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Evaluating agronomic factors for maize production in a semi‐arid Loess Plateau

Gao

Bao-liang

et al. 2021

Agronomy Journal

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Crop production is often affected by multiple agronomic factors. However, little has been reported on the synergistic effects of multiple factors on crop production. Here, we reported the effects of five factors (i.e., variety, planting density, nitrogen application, This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.supplementary irrigation and plastic mulching) on crop yields, using data from a 5-year experiment at Dongyang, Shanxi province of China. An incomplete factorial design with these factors comprised 12 treatments, including two controls: optimized technology (OT) and conventional technology (CT), comprising all five factors applied at the added or subtracted level, respectively. The result showed that, on 5-year average, OT significantly increased maize yield by 3.5 Mg ha -1 (44.3% more) as compared to CT (7.9 Mg ha -1 ), showing a huge potential for increasing yields. Among the five factors, plastic mulching contributed the most in yield increase (11.5%), high density, improved variety and irrigation contributed 9.9%, 6.9% and 5.1% increase in yield, respectively. There were no significant differences in yield between two N input levels (i.e., 225 and 300 kg N ha -1 ), suggesting the N input of 225 kg N ha -1 was sufficient to realize yield level of 8-11 Mg ha -1 in the studied area. In conclusion, reducing yield gap can only be achieved by optimizing multiple factors simultaneously because the effects of single measure are relatively small and inconsistent among years. The results of our study would help develop adaptive management practices for increasing crop yield stability in other semi-arid regions.

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Plastic-Film Mulching for Enhanced Water-Use Efficiency and Economic Returns from Maize Fields in Semiarid China

Cited by 47 publications

References 31 publications

Soil-biodegradable Mulches for Growth, Yield, and Quality of Sweet Corn in a Mediterranean-type Climate

Soil-biodegradable Mulches for Growth, Yield, and Quality of Sweet Corn in a Mediterranean-type Climate

Depletion of soil organic carbon stocks are larger under plastic film mulching for maize

Evaluating agronomic factors for maize production in a semi‐arid Loess Plateau

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