Is Cattle Manure Application with Plastic-Film Mulch a Good Choice for Potato Production?

Abstract

Using manure in potato production has been considered for its potential environmentally friendly effects. Two years of field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of different kinds of fertilizer and soil surface treatments on potato growth. Experimental treatments consisted of three soil surface treatments, including black plastic-film mulch (BM), transparent film-plastic mulch (TM), and non-mulched (NM) treatment, and two fertilizer treatments, including inorganic fertilizer (IF), and cattle manure (CM). The results showed that low environmental temperatures at early growth stages harmed potato growth. The more suitable hydrothermal environment under BM treatment induced 9–67%, 1–223%, 15–30%, −1–11% and 18–34% greater plant height, leaf area index (LAI), tuber yield, crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and water use efficiency (WUE), respectively, than NM and TM treatments. Plastic-film mulch increased soil carbon dioxide concentration, especially for the TM treatment. With low soil nitrogen content during the whole growth stage, and high soil carbon dioxide concentration during sprout and seedling stages, the CM treatment reduced plant height, LAI, tuber yields, ETc and WUE by 27–155%, 2–96%, 6–23%, 2–6% and 8–25%, respectively. These results suggest that inorganic fertilizer with black plastic-film mulch is still the best choice for potato production, and further studies are needed to identify the best level of cattle manure used under black plastic-film mulch.

Effects of Management Practices on Quinoa Growth, Seed Yield, and Quality

“…Soil matric potential (SMP) is a useful criterion for characterizing crop soil water availability, and SMP-based drip irrigation management has been successfully applied to improve yields in many crops [24][25][26][27][28][29]. The SMP threshold for quinoa drip irrigation scheduling can vary with soil texture, active rooting depth of quinoa, planting configuration, water availability for irrigation, and many other factors.…”

Black Plastic Film Mulching Increases Soil Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Arid Potato Fields

“…Soil moisture was another primary factor affecting N 2 O emissions. MC treatment could significantly increase soil moisture, which has been reported by lots of studies [ 8 , 21 ]. We also found soil N 2 O emissions had a positive correlation with WFPS (from 39% to 62%) ( Figure 2 ), which was consistent with that of Zhao [ 10 ].…”

“…This study showed a negative impact of MC treatment on greenhouse gas mitigation. On the other hand, studies have reported a significant positive effect of MC treatment on potato harvest [ 8 ]. Therefore, further research should be devoted to examining the impacts of MC treatment on both potato harvests and N 2 O emissions.…”

“…The plastic film mulch was perforated for the transplantation of potato seeds. All plots were irrigated by an irrigation system as described in our previous studies [ 8 , 21 ]. Briefly, plots were irrigated when soil volumetric moisture content at 20 cm soil depth declined to 70% ( v/v ) of the field capacity [ 21 ].…”

“…Mulching treatment can significantly enhance potato growth and harvest. One of our previous studies indicated that black plastic film mulch could enhance potato harvest by 6–30% [ 8 ], while few studies have paid attention to the effect of mulching on N 2 O emissions in arid and semi-arid potato fields. Soils covered with black plastic film mulch had higher soil temperatures compared to non-mulched soils in potato fields [ 9 ].…”