Effects Of Different Mulching Treatments On Yield And Water Use Efficiency Of Spring Maize

Shandong only USES 0.60% of the country's water resources to cultivate 5.64% of the country's arable land.Under the severe water use situation,it is particularly important for Shandong province to conduct research on agricultural water-saving,effectively use natural precipitation and improve the utilization rate of effective precipitation.The yield of spring maize is high and the economic benefit is good,but the planting of spring maize in Shandong province is highly dependent on mulching technology because of the mild and moisture conditions during sowing.In addition,the residual quantity of plastic film in Shandong province has been increasing year by year.In order to maintain the sustainable development of agriculture,it is imperative to carry out research on the replacement of ordinary plastic film cover and seek efficient,environmental protection and sustainable covering methods.This experiment based on the predecessors' research,on the basis of selection of biodegradable mulch and straw mulching and explore the biological biodegradable mulch and straw cover influence on spring maize growth,to explore the two cover material instead of ordinary plastic(PE film)feasibility,to solve the problem of corn residue membrane pollution in the region,develop water-saving research better.Four treatments were set up in the experiment: ordinary PE mulch,biodegradable mulch,corn stalk mulch and non-mulch treatment,to explore the effects of different mulch treatments on spring corn yield and water use efficiency.The results showed:Compared with non-mulching treatment,mulching showed warming effect in allday temperature and whole growth period,but the warming effect of biodegradable mulching was inferior to that of PE mulching.Straw mulching has a cooling effect when the temperature is high,and a heating effect when the temperature is low.Compared with non-mulching treatment,mulching treatment changed the change rule of soil water storage,which mainly showed that mulching treatment reduced the consumption of water storage in the early stage of spring maize and increased the consumption of water storage in the middle stage of the growth period of spring maize.In the early stage of spring maize growth,straw mulch significantly increased the water storage in the 0-70 cm soil layer compared with other treatments.During the whole growth period of spring maize,different mulching treatments had no significant effect on water storage in 100-130 cm soil layer,while straw mulching significantly increased water storage during spring maize harvest.The leaf area index and dry matter accumulation of spring maize were significantly increased by mulching compared with non-mulching.The leaf area index(LAI)and dry matter accumulation were the largest in the jointing stage and the bellopening stage.However,the leaf area index(LAI)and the proportion of dry matter in straw mulching were significantly higher than those in other treatments.Straw mulching lengthens the growth cycle of the crop,allowing spring maize to retain more leaves during the filling period.Compared with the non-mulching treatment,the water consumption of PE mulching,biodegradable mulching and straw mulching were reduced by 9.7%,7.18% and 4.15%,respectively.There was no significant difference between PE mulch and biodegradable mulch,but the water consumption of PE mulch was significantly lower than that of straw mulch.The yield of PE mulch,biodegradable mulch and straw mulch increased by 29.7%,23.6% and 16.0%,respectively,There was no significant difference between PE mulch,biodegradable mulch and straw mulch.The water use efficiency of PE mulch,biodegradable mulch and straw mulch treatment was significantly increased by 43.8%,33.3% and 22.1%,respectively,compared with nonmulch treatment.There was no significant difference between PE mulch and biodegradable mulch treatment,but it was significantly higher than that of straw mulch treatment.According to the experimental results,PE mulching,biodegradable mulching and straw mulching could increase leaf area index,dry matter accumulation,yield and water use efficiency of spring maize,and reduce water consumption during the growth period.There were no significant differences in the yield,water consumption and water use efficiency of biodegradable plastic mulch compared with PE mulch,so it was feasible to cover biodegradable plastic mulch and plant spring corn in Shandong province.