Effects of autumn covering on soil water storage and spring maize growth

To study the influence of mulching in autumn on soil moisture and growth condition of spring maize,three different rates of straw mulching(straw mulching 3 000 kg·hm-2,straw mulching 6 000 kg·hm-2,straw mulching 9 000 kg·hm-2) and two different patterns of plastic film mulching(film mulching and furrow-film mulching) were tested,no mulch cover treatment(CK) set as control.Results were as follows: except the 3 000 kg·hm-2 straw mulching,compared with CK,soil water storage in the rest four treatments was increased by 21.22 mm,20.49 mm,18.37 mm and 19.5 mm respectively in the winter fallow period.Maize emergence time with these mulching methods was advanced 3 days earlier than CK.In the period between seeding and Full-grown stage(after sowing 70ds),soil water storages in film mulching and furrow-film mulching treatments were increased 15.57 mm and 15.73 mm,compared to CK;Soil water storages in straw mulching 6 000 kg·hm-2 and 9 000 kg·hm-2 treatments were increased 12.05 mm and 12.03 mm,compared to CK.In the late stage of corn growth,soil water storage was higher in soils with mulch than in CK,but had no significant difference.Mulching in autumn promoted the individual growth of spring corn.Film mulching significantly enhanced dry matter per plant,plant height and leaf area in the early stage of corn growth,while straw mulching enhanced corn growth in the late stage.By using film mulching and furrow-film mulching treatments,corn grain yield and water production efficiency were increased by 14.6%,13.9%,and 11.0%,11.1%(P0.05),respectively,while straw mulching method had no affect on corn yield.