Effects of pre-sowing irrigation and straw mulching on the grain yield and water use efficiency of summer maize in the North China Plain

Zhenxing Yan, Chao Gao, Yujie Ren, Rui Zong, Yuzhao Ma and Quanqi Li

Agricultural Water Management, 2017, vol. 186, issue C, 21-28

Abstract: To develop water-saving agriculture in the North China plain, we conducted field experiments using three pre-sowing irrigation applications (30, 70, and 110mm) on summer maize, with and without straw mulching, during the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. We studied the effects of pre-sowing irrigation and straw mulching on soil moisture before sowing (SMBS) consumption, evapotranspiration (ET), grain yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). The results indicated that straw mulching and increased pre-sowing irrigation significantly improved grain yield. Increasing amounts of pre-sowing irrigation increased ET, whereas straw mulching had no significant effect on ET. Conversely, while pre-sowing irrigation showed no linear correlation with WUE, straw mulching increased it significantly. The combination of straw mulching and the 70-mm pre-sowing irrigation treatment (70M) improved grain yield at a significantly higher rate than with the combination of 110-mm and the non-straw mulching treatment (110N); moreover, significantly more deep soil water was absorbed with 70M than with the other pre-sowing irrigation treatments. These results indicate that the combination of straw mulching and 70-mm pre-sowing irrigation is the ideal water-saving agricultural technique for growing summer maize in the North China Plain.

Keywords: Water-saving agriculture; Evapotranspiration; Water use efficiency; Soil moisture before sowing; Yield composition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:186:y:2017:i:c:p:21-28

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2017.02.017

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