Ridge-furrow plastic mulching with a suitable planting density enhances rainwater productivity,grain yield and economic benefit of rainfed maize

Soil surface mulching and planting density regulation are widely used for effective utilization of limited rainwater resources and improvement of crop productivity in dryland farming.However,the combined effects of mulching type and planting density on maize growth and yield have been seldom studied,especially in different hydrological years.A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of mulching type and planting density on the soil temperature,growth,grain yield(GY),water use efficiency(WUE)and economic benefit of rainfed maize in the drylands of northern China during 2015-2017.Precipitation fluctuated over the three years.There were four mulching types(NM,flat cultivation with non-mulching;SM,flat cultivation with straw mulching;RP,plastic-mulched ridge plus bare furrow;RPFS,plastic-mulched ridge plus straw-mulched furrow)and three planting densities(LD,low planting density,45.0×10^3 plants/hm^2;MD,medium planting density,67.5×10^3 plants/hm^2;HD,high planting density,90.0×10^3 plants/hm^2).Results showed that soil temperature was higher with RP and lower with SM compared with NM,but no significant difference was found between RPFS and NM.More soil water was retained by soil mulching at the early growth stage,but it significantly varied at the middle and late growth stages.Maize growth was significantly improved by soil mulching.With increasing planting density,stem diameter,net photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content tended to decline,whereas a single-peak trend in biomass yield was observed.Mulching type and planting density did not have significant effect on evapotranspiration(ET),but GY and WUE were significantly affected.There were significant interacting effects of mulching type and planting density on biomass yield,GY,ET and WUE.Compared with NM,RPFS,RP and SM increased GY by 57.5%,50.8%and 18.9%,and increased WUE by 66.6%,54.3%and 18.1%,respectively.At MD,GY increased by 41.4%and 25.2%,and WUE increased by 38.6%and 22.4%compared with those of at LD and HD.The highest maize GY(7023.2 kg/hm^2)was observed under MD+RPFS,but the value(6699.1 kg/hm^2)was insignificant under MD+RP.Similar trends were observed for WUE under MD+RP and MD+RPFS,but no significant difference was observed between these two combinations.In terms of economic benefit,net income under MD+RP was the highest with a 9.8%increase compared with that of under MD+RPFS.Therefore,we concluded that RP cultivation pattern with a suitable planting density(67.5×10^3 plants/hm^2)is promising for rainwater resources utilization and maize production in the drylands of northern China.

Net ecosystem carbon exchange for Bermuda grass growing in mesocosms as affected by irrigation frequency

Intensification of grazed grasslands following conversion from dryland to irrigated farming has the potential to alter ecosystem carbon(C)cycling and affect components of carbon dioxide(CO_(2))exchange that could lead to either net accumulation or loss of soil C.While there are many studies on the effect of water availability on biomass production and soil C stocks,much less is known about the effect of the frequency of water inputs on the components of CO_(2)exchange.We grew Bermuda grass(Cynodon dactylon L.)in mesocosms under irrigation frequencies of every day(I_(1) treatment,30 d),every two days(I_(2) treatment,12 d),every three days(I_(3) treatment,30 d),and every six days(I_(6) treatment,18 d,after I_(2) treatment).Rates of CO_(2)exchange for estimating net ecosystem CO_(2)exchange(F_(N)),ecosystem respiration(R_(E)),and soil respiration(R_(S))were measured,and gross C uptake by plants(F_(G))and respiration from leaves(R_(L))were calculated during two periods,1–12 and 13–30 d,of the 30-d experiment.During the first 12 d,there were no significant differences in cumulative F_(N)(mean±standard deviation,61±30 g C m^(-2),n=4).During the subsequent 18 d,cumulative F_(N) decreased with decreasing irrigation frequency and increasing cumulative soil water deficit(W),with values of 70±22,60±16,and 18±12 g C m^(-2) for the I_(1),I_(3),and I_(6) treatments,respectively.There were similar decreases in F_(G),R_(E),and R_(L) with increasing W,but differences in R_(S) were not significant.Use of the C_(4) grass growing in a C_(3)-derived soil enabled partitioning of R_(S) into its autotrophic(R_(A))and heterotrophic(R_(H))components using a^(13)C natural abundance isotopic technique at the end of the experiment when differences in cumulative W between the treatments were the greatest.The values of R_(H) and its percentage contributions to R_(S)(43%±8%,42%±8%,and 8%±5%for the I_(1),I_(3),and I_(6) treatments,respectively)suggested that R_(H) remained unaffected across a wide range of W and then decreased under extreme W.There were no significant differences in aboveground biomass between the treatments.Nitrous oxide(N_(2)O)emission was measured to determine if there was a trade-off effect between irrigation frequency and increasing W on net greenhouse gas emission,but no significant differences were found between the treatments.These findings suggest that over short periods in well-drained soil,irrigation frequency could be managed to manipulate soil water deficit in order to reduce net belowground respiratory C losses,particularly those from the microbial decomposition of soil organic matter,with no significant effect on biomass production and N_(2)O emission.