Effects of the ridge mulched system on soil water and inorganic nitrogen distribution in the Loess Plateau of China

Jiang, Rui; Xiao, Li; Zhu, Wei; Wang, Kun; Guo, Sheng; Misselbrook, Tom; Hatano, Ryusuke

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2018.03.027

Cited by 28 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Increased grain yields under the Plastic system have been widely reported (Bu et al, 2013). The mechanisms of yield increases include: 1) higher water availability because of reduced evaporation during drought periods under plastic film mulching; 2) an increase in the soil temperature what is especially important in the early stage of the maize growing season, enhancing crop growth (Jiang et al, 2018; Ramakrishna et al, 2006; Zhao et al, 2012). Liu et al (2015b) found that the grain yields and aboveground biomass under plastic film mulching were 70 and 53% higher than that without mulching, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate and transport of urea-N in a rain-fed ridge-furrow crop system with plastic mulch

Guo

Jiang

et al. 2019

Soil and Tillage Research

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Highlights Plastic increased total plant 15 N uptake rather than Open. More residual 15 N was recovered in 0–120 cm soil under Plastic than under Open. The ridge was the main N fertilizer source for plant uptake. Lateral N movements from furrow to ridge and from ridge to furrow were observed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate and transport of urea-N in a rain-fed ridge-furrow crop system with plastic mulch

Guo

Jiang

et al. 2019

Soil and Tillage Research

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“…Concurrent studies at the same site also reported that the maize production in 2013 was very low (Jiang et al, 2016, 2018). The negative impact of water stress (temporary dry layer) in the early stage of the maize growing season on production has been shown in other studies (Jiang et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2014). In 2014, we observed deeper rooting and increased crop height, especially in the early stage of the maize growing season, probably because the high initial SWS could meet the water requirement of the crop and the roots rapidly grew to the deeper soil layer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Although water stress in the plow pan layer occurred in June and July (Fig. 5), the RT in 2014 was higher than that in 2013 (Table 3) and maize production was much higher in 2014 (Jiang et al, 2018), indicating that the initial SWS before sowing could alleviate subsequent crop water stress effectively via deep roots. This was also proved by the consumption of soil water, of which 148 and 121 mm occurred during May to July and the whole growing season in 2014, respectively (Table 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Water Stress in Maize Production in the Drylands of the Loess Plateau

Zhu

et al. 2018

Vadose Zone Journal

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Water stress during two maize (Zea mays L.) growing seasons (2013 and 2014) was investigated in a semiarid region of northwest China. The HYDRUS-1D model gave good simulation of the soil water content in different layers throughout a 0-to 200-cm depth during the maize growing season, with R 2 values of 70.6 and 77.0% for the calibration and validation periods, respectively. Water stress for maize production was observed in June of 2013 and in July of 2014. The soil water storage (SWS) decreased significantly during the early stage of the maize growing season, especially in 2014. The root depth and crop height were 20 cm deeper and 100 cm higher, respectively, in 2014 than in 2013 at the early stage. These results suggest that in the early stage of the maize growing season, pre-seeding SWS can alleviate crop water stress effectively via deep roots. Model simulation showed that the plow pan layer (at a depth of 20-40 cm), with high soil bulk density and a lower soil water retention curve, significantly reduced infiltration. High evapotranspiration and low precipitation result in a temporary dry layer during the early stage, highlighting the plow pan as the sensitive layer for water stress during the drought period. Effective management practices such as deep plowing, plastic film mulching, or water conservation treatments in the fallow period are needed to avoid the formation of this temporary dry layer during the drought period at the early stage and thus improve maize production in rainfed agriculture on the Loess Plateau of China.Abbreviations: ET, evapotranspiration; LAI, leaf area index; RT, root uptake; SWS, soil water storage.

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“…With the development of the plastic film mulching technique, there have been a lot of studies focusing on this form of field management. A large amount of experiments have been conducted to study the effects of plastic film mulching on semiarid agriculture, such as its effect on soil temperature [6,7], crop productivity [3,8,9], soil water status [10][11][12], and soil nutrients [13][14][15]. Through so many previous studies, the physiological mechanisms involved are well known.…”

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confidence: 99%

Plastic Film Mulching Sustains High Maize (Zea mays L.) Grain Yield and Maintains Soil Water Balance in Semiarid Environment

Zhang

Eldoma

et al. 2020

Agronomy

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Ridge–furrow cultivation with plastic film mulching has been widely used for many years to increase crop yields in semiarid regions. The long-term effects of plastic mulching on crop yield and soil water balance need to be seriously considered to assess the sustainability of this widely used field management technique. A seven-year maize field experiment was conducted during 2012–2018 to estimate the yield sustainability and soil water balance with two treatments—mulching (yes; no) and nitrogen fertilization (yes; no). This resulted in the following four groups—no film mulching, no N application (M0N0); film mulching, no N application (M1N0); no film mulching, N application (M0N1); film mulching and N application (M1N1). Our results show that plastic mulching significantly increased maize yield. A combination of mulching and nitrogen application had the highest sustainability yield index (SYI) of 0.75, which was higher than the other three treatments, with SYI values of 0.31, 0.33, and 0.39, respectively. Plastic film mulching increased soil water content and water storage in both the sowing and harvesting periods and did not cause the formation of dry soil layers. Precipitation storage efficiency (PSE) in the nongrowing season played a key role in maintaining the soil water balance and it was positively affected by plastic film mulching. Our research indicates that plastic mulching and N application could maintain maize yield sustainability and the soil water balance of agriculture in semiarid regions. In addition, we highlight the importance of nongrowing season precipitation, and thus, we suggest that mulching the field land with plastic film throughout the whole year should be adopted by farmers to store more precipitation, which is important to crop growth.

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Effects of the ridge mulched system on soil water and inorganic nitrogen distribution in the Loess Plateau of China

Cited by 28 publications

References 39 publications

Fate and transport of urea-N in a rain-fed ridge-furrow crop system with plastic mulch

Fate and transport of urea-N in a rain-fed ridge-furrow crop system with plastic mulch

Water Stress in Maize Production in the Drylands of the Loess Plateau

Plastic Film Mulching Sustains High Maize (Zea mays L.) Grain Yield and Maintains Soil Water Balance in Semiarid Environment

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