Global crop yields are limited by water and nutrient availability. Soil mulching (with plastic or straw) reduces evaporation, modifies soil temperature and thereby affects crop yields. Reported effects of mulching are sometimes contradictory, likely due to differences in climatic conditions, soil characteristics, crop species, and also water and nitrogen (N) input levels. Here we report on a me...

Straw mulching is an effective measure to improve soil properties, crop growth, and yield. To further understand the advantage mechanisms of straw mulching, a field experiment with seven straw mulching levels (0 to 18 000 kg ha-1) was conducted to study the effects of straw mulching on maize (Zea mays L.) photosynthesis and rhizosphere soil microecological environment. Results showed that maize...

Mulching and nitrogen are critical drivers of crop production for smallholders of the Loess Plateau in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mulching and nitrogen fertilizer on the soil water content, soil nitrate-N content and vertical distribution in maize root-zone. The experiment was conducted over two consecutive years and used randomly assigned field plots with...

Improving farming practices of soil and water conservation has profound effects on the yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in dryland farming regions of the Loess Plateau in China. Mulching has proven to be an effective practice to increase crop yield, and possibly contribute to replenishing groundwater. This evaluation study collected and analyzed the data of 1849 observations published in 3...

Mulching is widely used to increase crop yield in semiarid regions in northwestern China, but little is known about the effect of different mulching systems on the microbial properties of the soil, which play an important role in agroecosystemic functioning and nutrient cycling. Based on a 4-year spring maize (Zea mays L.) field experiment at Changwu Agricultural and Ecological Experimental Sta...

A 2-year field experiment was conducted on maize (Zea mays L.) to explore effective ways to decrease soil CO2 emissions and increase grain yield. Treatments established were: (1) no mulching with urea, (2) no mulching with controlled release fertiliser (CRF), (3) transparent plastic-film mulching (PMt) with urea, (4) PMt with CRF, (5) black plastic-film mulching (PMb) with urea, and (6) PMb wit...

Mulching and tillage are widely considered to be major practices for improving soil and water conservation where water is scarce. This paper studied the effects of FM (flat mulching), RFM (ridge-furrow mulching), SM (straw mulching), MTMC (mulching with two materials combined), MOM (mulching with other materials), NT (no-tillage) ST (subsoiling tillage) and RT (rotational tillage) on wheat yiel...

The technology of freezing saline water irrigation (FSWI) with plastic mulching has been regarded as an effective way to reclaim the highly saline soil in coastal plains, which enabled the growth of crops in heavy saline soil that was not suitable for any crop growth before. However, after long-term treatment with FSWI, the microenvironment of the soil has been found to be affected by the growt...

Different mulches have variable effects on soil physical properties and plant growth. This study aimed to compare the effects of mulching with inorganic (round gravel, RG), organic (wood chips, WC), and living (manila turf grass, MG) materials on soil properties at 0-5-cm and 5-10-cm depths, as well as on the growth and physiological features of Osmanthus fragrans L. 'Rixianggui' plants. Soil s...

Proven techniques of soil moisture conservation were imposed in two consecutive seasons (2002 and 2003) under a rainfed alfisol ecosystem in order to investigate the physiological response of cowpea as the test crop. The impulsive variations in soil moisture status with reference to these techniques were found to influence the physiological and biochemical parameters of cowpea significantly. Mu...