Effects of biodegradable mulch on soil water and heat conditions, yield and quality of processing tomatoes by drip irrigation

doi:10.1007/s40333-020-0108-4

Journal of Arid Land

2020, Vol. 12

Issue (5): 819-836 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-020-0108-4

Research article

Effects of biodegradable mulch on soil water and heat conditions, yield and quality of processing tomatoes by drip irrigation

JIA Hao^1,², WANG Zhenhua^1,^2,^*(

), ZHANG Jinzhu^1,², LI Wenhao¹, REN Zuoli¹, JIA Zhecheng¹, WANG Qin¹

¹College of Water & Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
²Key Laboratory of Modern Water-Saving Irrigation of Xinjiang Production & Construction Group, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China

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Abstract

To combat the problem of residual film pollution and ensure the sustainable development of agriculture in oasis areas, a field experiment was carried out in 2019 at the Wuyi Farm Corps Irrigation Center Test Station in Urumqi, Northwest China. Four types of biodegradable mulches, traditional plastic mulchs and a control group (bare land; referred to as CK) were compared, including a total of six different treatments. Effects of mulching on soil water and heat conditions as well as the yield and quality of processing tomatoes under drip irrigation were examined. In addition, a comparative analysis of economic benefits of biodegradable mulches was performed. Principal component analysis and gray correlation analysis were used to evaluate suitable mulching varieties for planting processing tomatoes under drip irrigation. Our results show that, compared with CK, biodegradable mulches and traditional plastic mulch have a similar effect on retaining soil moisture at the seedling stage but significantly increase soil moisture by 0.5%-1.5% and 1.5%-3.0% in the middle and late growth periods (P<0.050), respectively. The difference in the thermal insulation effect between biodegradable mulch and plastic mulch gradually reduces as the crop grows. Compared with plastic mulch, the average soil temperature at 5-20 cm depth under biodegradable mulches is significantly lowered by 2.04°C-3.52°C and 0.52°C-0.88°C (P<0.050) at the seedling stage and the full growth period, respectively, and the water use efficiency, average fruit yield, and production-investment ratio under biodegradable mulches were reduced by 0.89%-6.63%, 3.39%-8.69%, and 0.51%-6.33% (P<0.050), respectively. The comprehensive evaluation analysis suggests that the black oxidized biological double-degradation ecological mulch made from eco-benign plastic is the optimal film type under the study condition. Therefore, from the perspective of sustainable development, biodegradable mulch is a competitive alternative to plastic mulch for large-scale tomato production under drip irrigation in the oasis.

Key words： biodegradable plastic mulch processing tomato water use efficiency soil water and heat comprehensive evaluation regional agricultural sustainability Xinjiang

Received: 04 June 2020 Published: 10 September 2020

Corresponding Authors:

About author: ^*Corresponding author: WANG Zhenhua (E-mail: wzh2002027@shzu.edu.cn)

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	Hao JIA
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Cite this article:

JIA Hao, WANG Zhenhua, ZHANG Jinzhu, LI Wenhao, REN Zuoli, JIA Zhecheng, WANG Qin. Effects of biodegradable mulch on soil water and heat conditions, yield and quality of processing tomatoes by drip irrigation. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(5): 819-836.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-020-0108-4 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2020/V12/I5/819

Fig. 1 Daily rainfall, daily air temperature (including daily average, maximum and minimum) and daily relative humidity at the study site during the growth period of processing tomatoes in 2019

Table 1 Soil bulk density and field water holding capacity

Table 2 Properties of the biodegradable and plastic films used in this study

Fig. 2 Planting mode of drip irrigation under mulch for processing tomatoes

Table 3 Irrigation schedule

Fig. 3 Dynamic distribution characteristics of water content in different soil layers of processing tomato seedlings under drip irrigation

Fig. 4 Water content changes during the whole growth period of tomato under drip irrigation with different mulching treatments (0-60 cm)

T	Ground temperature (°C) measured four times a day at different soil depths
	5 cm				10 cm
	08:00	12:00	16:00	20:00	08:00	12:00	16:00	20:00
PE	24.52±0.228^aA	37.35±0.4327^aA	46.90±0.696^aA	33.18±0.557^aA	24.58±0.661^aA	32.03±0.278^aA	40.28±0.229^aA	34.08±0.111^aA
BM1	23.80±0.793^aAB	36.40±0.307^abAB	41.60±0.443^bB	32.75±0.514^abA	22.93±0.229^bB	31.20±0.286^bAB	37.18±0.421^bB	32.93±0.189^bAB
WM1	21.47±0.375^bcB	35.50±0.377^bcBC	41.53±0.272^bB	31.98±0.556^abA	22.63±0.354^bcB	29.88±0.275^cC	36.33±0.175^cBC	32.45±0.307^bBC
BM2	23.53±0.854^abAB	36.30±0.447^abABC	41.58±0.316^bB	31.65±0.330^bA	21.65±0.312^cB	29.58±0.085^cC	36.00±0.187^cCD	31.25±0.284^cC
WM2	21.37±0.904^cB	34.57±0.549^cC	39.88±0.764^cB	29.10±0.227^cB	21.95±0.185^bcB	30.95±0.210^bB	35.15±0.171^dD	29.40±0.483^dD
CK	20.76±0.196^dD	36.11±0.150^bB	32.54±0.395^dD	27.52±0.215^dC	20.53±0.135^dC	27.86±0.324^dD	30.25±0.214^eE	26.57±0.389^eE
Significance analysis (F test value)
MM	252.463^***	59.110^***	789.350^***	596.652^***	269.568^***	397.235^***	1896.356^***	891.112^***
T	15 cm				20 cm
T	08:00	12:00	16:00	20:00	08:00	12:00	16:00	20:00
PE	25.40±0.208^aA	30.03±0.193^aA	35.03±0.193^aA	33.48±0.125^aA	24.80±0.245^aA	27.20±0.141^aA	32.48±0.125^aA	31.20±0.141^aA
BM1	22.73±0.149^bB	29.78±0.221^abA	34.90±0.508^aAB	30.65±0.393^cBC	22.68±0.189^cdCD	25.45±0.132^cC	29.38±0.144^bB	29.18±0.132^cC
WM1	22.70±0.261^bB	29.53±0.103^bA	34.30±0.178^abAB	30.20±0.147^cC	23.18±0.149^cBC	25.23±0.149^cC	28.53±0.103^cC	28.18±0.149^dD
BM2	22.10±0.334^bB	30.10±0.108^aA	35.05±0.104^aA	31.50±0.286^bB	23.80±0.123^bB	26.30±0.220^bB	29.58±0.165^bB	30.05±0.150^bB
WM2	22.55±0.194^bB	29.48±0.144^bA	33.65±0.393^bB	28.60±0.187^dD	22.45±0.132^dD	24.25±0.166^dD	25.50±0.123^dD	27.23±0.155^eE
CK	21.25±0.245^cC	27.56±0.113^bB	29.14±0.209^cC	24.28±0.168^eE	21.35±0.143^eE	26.49±0115^bB	27.34±0.167^cC	24.12±0.214^fF
Significance analysis (F test value)
MM	216.857^***	118.962^***	547.223^***	914.367^***	165.322^***	238.114^***	386.425^***	1664.874^***

Table 4 Effects of plastic film mulching on ground temperature at different soil depths in processing tomato seedlings (5-20 cm)

Fig. 5 Ground temperature change during the whole growth period of processing tomatoes under drip irrigation with different mulching treatments (5-20 cm)

Fig. 6 Comparison of yield, quality, WUE, and production-investment ratio of tomato fruits processed by drip irrigation under different mulching treatments. ^***, P<0.001 level.

Table 5 Response values of processing tomatoes with drip irrigation under different film treatments

Table 6 Comprehensive evaluation of different film treatments based on drip irrigation tomato response index

Table 7 Comparing series and reference series of response indices of tomato processing by different film treatments under drip irrigation

Table 8 Comprehensive evaluation of different plastic film treatments based on the response indices of processing irrigation tomato


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