An Opportunity for Regenerative Rice Production: Combining Plastic Film Cover and Plant Biomass Mulch with No-Till Soil Management to Build Soil Carbon, Curb Nitrogen Pollution, and Maintain High-Stable Yield

Abstract

China has attained rice sufficiency with the increased use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer, but this has led to serious N pollution. China has the world’s highest use of N with the lowest N use efficiency (NUE). Including livestock production, China’s agriculture sector has surpassed industry as the greatest polluter of water. Using plastic film on raised-beds, combined with improved agronomic practices, can boost rice yield by 50% with 36% less N fertilizer use, 30% higher NUE, and stabilized the yield of 9.75 t ha−1. It also counters the effects of drought and low ambient temperature. A six-year study was conducted combining no-tillage, crop-residue mulch, and plastic cover, alternating organic rice and rapeseed production. All the treatments, fertilized with biogas slurry and rapeseed meal, gave rice yields of 7.0 to 10.7 t ha−1, well above China’s average of 6.5 t ha−1. In this time, soil organic matter increased from 1.6% to 4.2%. In the first four years, the combination of crop-residue mulch with plastic cover had a slightly higher yield than mulch alone. In the fifth and sixth years, the latter treatment surpassed the use of plastic cover with crop-residue mulch. Trials with a biodegradable film show that plastic pollution can be dealt with.

Testing Biodegradable Films as Alternatives to Plastic-Film Mulching for Enhancing the Yield and Economic Benefits of Processed Tomato in Xinjiang Region

“…These polymers can be quickly decomposed and used by microorganisms in nature, and the final degradation products are carbon dioxide and water [24,33]. At present, biodegradable film has been used in the production of greenhouse crops [34,35], potato [36][37][38], spring peanut [39], cotton [40][41][42], maize [42][43][44][45], rice [46,47], and winter wheat [48,49]. As a result, it has been found that biodegradable film can reduce soil residual film pollution, as it is able to fulfill the main functions of PFM: heat preservation, moisture conservation, crop growth, and yield promotion [15,50].…”

Compatibility between Conservation Agriculture and the System of Rice Intensification

“…This economizes on irrigation water [12] and energy requirements. Where excessive rainwater stands on the field, this can be drained by the furrows to avoid unwanted flooding and its consequences [40].…”

“…The effectiveness of straw mulch for controlling weeds is of great importance in a production system where farmers may be concerned that the aerobic soil conditions and increased spacing between plants could encourage weed growth [41]. In certain cases, plastic films are being used in a CA + SRI system to cover the soil in raised beds mulched with biomass, as described by [40] and reported in Section 3.3. However, CA has a strong preference for vegetative ground cover, whether the plants are living or dead, so it does not encourage the use of plastic materials for mulch.…”

“…A six-year experiment was conducted by the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences using CA and SRI crop management on permanent no-till raised beds with plant biomass mulch and adapted SRI agronomic practices [40]. The practice of mulching is supplemented by covering the mulched surface with plastic film, which is usually not recommended with CA or SRI.…”

Case Study of Effects of Mineral N Fertilization Amounts on Water Productivity in Rainfed Winter Rapeseed Cultivation on a Sandy Soil in Brandenburg (Germany) over Three Years

“…The water fluxes at field scale, i.e., stemflow, throughfall, infiltration, percolation, runoff, soil moisture, capillary rise, root water uptake, interception, evaporation, and transpiration, determine biomass production to a large extent. The most relevant management practices to raise the productivity of precipitation water are: soil tillage (roughening of the surface/fallowing of crusts, no-till); humus conservation (application of organic matter; mulching; turning under of crop residues); fertilizing (organic-mineral fertilization, e.g., [17]; mineral fertilization; sufficient N-, P-, K-supply; timing, e.g., [18]); crop rotation (optimizing of crop rotation and intermediate crop, e.g., [19]; plant protection); seeding (seed-bed preparation; high crop density; seeding date; frost protection); breeding (drought-tolerant varieties; varieties with high transpiration efficiency, e.g., [20]; coverage, e.g., [21]); wind protection; cultivation of legumes; increasing activity of microorganisms; and irrigation with harvested water (e.g., [17]).…”