No abstract

In the North China Plain, it is a matter of urgency to explore the feasibility of using biodegradable film to replace polyethylene film. A field experiment was conducted by covering soils with polyethylene white film, biodegradable white film, biodegradable black film, while the control remained uncovered. This study analysed the effects of using different film types on summer maize dry matter accumulation and transfer, grain yield and yield components during the 2016 and 2017 summer maize growing seasons. Results showed that, for both growing seasons, compared with non-mulching, dry matter translocation, dry matter transfer efficiency of vegetative organs and grain yield for plants following polyethylene white film and biodegradable white film treatments were always lower. However, dry matter accumulation, dry matter translocation, dry matter transfer efficiency, grain yield, and the contribution of dry matter translocation to grain yield before flowering in biodegradable black film treatments significantly increased by 21.0, 33.3, 21.4, 12.6, and 18.5%, respectively. Only the black biodegradable film could increase grain yield as determined by the 1000 kernel mass. Results indicate that black biodegradable films are a viable alternative to polyethylene film in summer maize production in the North China Plain. K e y w o r d s: polyethylene film, leaf area index, dry matter transfer, yield components, North China Plain

No abstract

In North China Plain, straw mulching affected wheat grain quality, but decreased grain yield. Improving planting pattern is a measure to increase winter wheat grain yield. It was hypothesized that under different planting patterns, winter wheat yield reduction with straw mulching would be compensated and improved grain quality. We conducted experiments with two straw mulching conditions (straw mulching and non-straw mulching) and two planting patterns (wide-precision planting and conventional-cultivation planting) in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 winter wheat growing seasons to study grain yield, protein content, wet gluten content, and flour dough farinographic properties. The results showed that straw mulching significantly reduced winter wheat grain yield, while grain yield was increased with wide-precision planting compared to the conventional-cultivation planting. As such, winter wheat grain yield reduction with straw mulching was compensated by wide-precision planting. Straw mulching and planting patterns had significant effect on the processing quality of winter wheat. In 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 winter wheat growing seasons, both dough development time and dough stabilization time were significantly higher in WM treatment than in CN treatment. These results indicate that straw mulching combined with wide-precision planting is a suitable measure to compensate winter wheat grain yield reduction and increase grain quality in North China.