Effects of different patterns of surface mulching on soil hydrology in an apple orchard

Abstract

Abstract: Apples are one of the main agricultural crops on China’s Loess Plateau. This study took a Fuji apple orchard in this region as a test object to study the effects of different patterns of surface mulching (clean tillage, grass cover, film mulching, straw mulching, and gravel mulching) on the soil hydrology and apple yield. Based on soil water storage, three seasonal periodscan be recognised annually; Water decreases in spring & summer, increases in summer & autumn, and stabilizes in winter & spring. Within the 0-600 cm soil profile, the highest average soil water content was in the film mulching treatment and the lowest was in the gravel mulching in all three periods. After rainfall, there was significant soil water recovery in the gravel mulching treatment (10.52%), with straw mulching second (9.47%), and least soil water recovery with clean tillage (6.53%). The depth of the water infiltration reached 260 cm. Based on apple yield, the water use efficiency in each treatment was: Clean tillage: 35.75 kg/(mm·ha), grass cover: 0.31 kg/(mm·ha), film mulching: 47.81 kg/(mm·ha), straw mulching: 58.99 kg/(mm·ha), and gravel mulching: 80.25 kg/(mm·ha). In conclusion, of the mulching patterns tested, gravel mulching was the most suitable for apple orchards in the gully region of the Loess Plateau, China.

CLC Number:

S152.7

ZHANG Yi, XIE Yong-sheng. Effects of different patterns of surface mulching on soil hydrology in an apple orchard[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2011, 20(2): 85-92.

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