Analysis of Water Balance and Yield Characteristics of Spring Maize under Different Mulching Patterns

Both straw mulching and plastic film mulching had significant effects on moisture conservation,but had different influences on yield and WUE.Straw mulching and plastic film mulching experiment was carried out in the maize field in the period of 2009-2011.The results showed that with the increase of the covering duration,not only the effects on moisture conservation of straw mulching and plastic film mulching were increasingly obvious,but also the differences of amplitude were increasing compared with no mulching treatment,and the soil infiltration depth was influenced below 400 cm.Plastic film mulching could improve the yield and WUE significantly,and the water consumption increased by 31.75 mm compared with no mulching treatment,while yield and WUE were raised by 20.8%and 11.8%,respectively.Straw mulching treatment had no significant effect on increase of the yield and WUE under the similar conditions.