How does plastic film mulching affect crop water productivity in an arid river basin?

Wang Zhang, Yong Tian, Zan Sun and Chunmiao Zheng

Agricultural Water Management, 2021, vol. 258, issue C

Abstract: Plastic film mulching is a widely used and effective field practice to improve crop water productivity (CWP), especially in arid and semiarid areas. The positive effects of soil mulching on crop yields and CWP have been studied through numerous field experiments and simulations at the site scale. However, few studies have focused on assessing mulching effects at the regional scale. The Zhangye Basin, a typical arid region in the middle Heihe River Basin of northwest China, was chosen as the focus of the present study. The AquaCrop model, a water-driven crop growth model, was first calibrated and validated using field observations from three experimental stations and extended to the regional scale by considering the spatial heterogeneity of soil, meteorology, crop characteristics, irrigation treatment and land use change. Three mulching practices under current irrigation schedules were simulated in the well-validated model for a 20-year period (1995–2015). The results showed that plastic film mulching conserved soil water and significantly reduced nonproductive evaporation. Crop transpiration and yield were enhanced while evapotranspiration decreased under mulching. Compared to no mulching, half-film mulching and major film mulching with 70% coverage effectively improved CWPs at the regional scale, with respective average increases of 7.2% ± 0.9% and 14.1% ± 2.2% for seed maize and 4.1% ± 0.7% and 7.8% ± 1.0% for spring wheat. The results demonstrated that the impacts of plastic film mulching on CWP varied with crop type and location in relation to water input. The regional evaluation also identified one particular area (Ganzhou) as the most suitable to apply plastic films, especially to seed maize. This study offers a better understanding of agronomic practices and helps improve CWP more effectively, ultimately contributing to water savings and food security in arid regions.

Keywords: Mulching technology; AquaCrop model; Regional simulation; Seed maize; Spring wheat; Heihe River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:258:y:2021:i:c:s0378377421004959

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107218

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