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Grain yield and water-use efficiency of summer maize in response to mulching with different plastic films in the North China Plain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2021

Rui Zong ,
Huifang Han  and
Quanqi Li Open the ORCID record for Quanqi Li [Opens in a new window]
Rui Zong
Affiliation:
College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong271018, P. R. China
Huifang Han
Affiliation:
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong271018, P. R. China
Quanqi Li*
Affiliation:
College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong271018, P. R. China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

Plastic film (PF) mulching is widely applied in agriculture to improve water-use efficiency (WUE) and crop production. However, without efficient recovery, the residual plastic fragments in arable land threaten soil health and food security. Degradable films are generally considered as alternatives to conventional PF to mitigate PF pollution. A 2-year field experiment was conducted in 2016 and 2017 to evaluate the effects of various film mulching treatments (conventional PF mulching, transparent degradable film (TDF) mulching, and black degradable film (BDF) mulching, and no mulching) on soil water availability and summer maize yield in the North China Plain (NCP). Soil moisture, soil water storage, water use, and grain yield were recorded. Below 20 cm depth, soil moisture and soil water storage were higher in film mulching than in no mulching. Conventional PF mulching yielded the best water conservation, especially from sowing to jointing. TDF and BDF were similar in their regulation of soil moisture. Comparing to no mulching, conventional PF and degradable transparent film significantly reduced maize grain yield by 15.4 and 8.0% (average over 2 years), and reduced WUE by 9.4 and 7.8% (average 2 years), respectively. The observed reduction of grain yield in transparent film mulching might be caused by excessive soil temperature, especially at vegetative stages, which potentially accelerates crop senescence. Black film mulching reduced the soil cumulative temperature and prevent crops from being overheated. As consequence, grain yield and WUE of summer maize under BDF covering were significantly increased by 11.1 and 15.6%, respectively, over the 2 years. Therefore, we suggest that BDF can be used to replace conventional plastics to improve crop yield and control environmental pollution in the NCP.

Keywords

Degradable filmswater storageevapotranspirationyield losssoil health
Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 33 - 44
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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