Micro-catchment Planting Technology Optimization Research In The Semi-Arid Area Of Western Liaoning Province

The Sand and Wind Semi-Arid Zones in the western part of Liaoning Province has series of characteristics performing as droughts, lack of precipitation throughout the year, more ineffective rainfalls, low efficiencies of precipitation utilization and water productive, severed water and soil erosion in the farmland, which result in the disproportionate and unstable production of grain crops. For increasing the Water Utilization Efficiency (abbreviated as WUE as follows) of the proposed agricultural zone, enhancing the developing environment of the grain crop, consequently, raising the production of grain crops, this study was designed from2007to2009as three patterns:ridge film mulching and furrow seeding (T1); ridge and furrow film (T2); groove ridge mulch film and ridge ditch straw mulching cultivation (T3), which are subsidiary of Micro-Water Catchment Patterns. Simultaneously, convention planting pattern was employed to compare for the optimization study. In the duration of2012to2013,the Micro-Water Catchment Patterns were optimized and updated, which added another pattern-round film mulching double-ridge pattern (T4). This research is based upon abovementioned four subsidiary patterns of Micro-Water Catchment Patterns, to study the effects of Micro-Water Catchments Patterns on the soil moisture, temperature, plant growth, plant development, plant yield and soil nutrient variation, thereby to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Micro-Water Catchment Patterns. Thus, discovering the most suitable and decent pattern in the sand and wind semi-arid agricultural zone, western Liaoning.For a complete and thorough evaluation of the result and effect from Micro-Water Catchment Patterns, discovering the most suitable and decent pattern in semi-arid zone of the North China, this study uses some advanced parameters such as evapotranspiration, water demand, and utilizes FLUENT software to simulate the infiltration of precipitation in the soil, in order to obtain the more comprehensive analyses and evaluations. The research results are summarized as follows:(1) The Micro-Water Catchment Patterns have significant effect on soil moisture conservation compared with the convention planting pattern. The experiment demonstrates that T3and T4perform the best under0-160cm soil layer.(2) By analyzing the convection velocity contours depicted by FLUENT, the infiltration of precipitation in the soil is more rapidly and the infiltration velocity is relatively low, which is based on the comparison with CK. By employing MATLAB for fitting the function versus the fastest velocity of infiltration, computing the velocity of each pattern, the result shows that T4has the fastest average infiltration velocity, meaning that T4is favorable for the storage of precipitation in the deep layer of soil.(3) In the duration of crop growth period, the evapotranspiration and water demand in the Micro-Water Catchment Pattern is much lower than CK pattern, T3and T4has the lowest value.(4) The soil surface temperature is apparently increased by adopting film mulching from Micro-Water Catchment Pattern. T4has the biggest covered area, which is accordingly has the most significant effect of temperature increase, whereas T3pattern has some certain of negative effect which is attributed to the use of straw. Thus, T3has the lowest temperature in the soil surface.(5) Different patterns have no obviously effect on emergency rate of maize, while work apparently on the emergency time. T1, T2and T4are ahead of the normal emergency time, and T4has the shortest time, T3has some certain delay, by comparing with CK pattern.(6) In contrast with CK pattern, T4grows with the best parameters(the plant height, leaf area, dry matter accumulation in different stages); T3grows slowly in the early stage, which results in the lower value of parameters versus CK, whilst in the anaphase, the pulse growth leads T3to overpass CK. Further study explores that T3is easily affected by low temperature, and then postpone the growth of crops. In the early stage, film mulching may accelerate the growth of crops; T1, T2and T4have higher chlorophyll content than CK. However, at the anaphase, T1, T2and T4perform as premature senility, the chlorophyll content decrease in the later period, while T3performs as normal.(7) The planting parameters (average diameter, general root length, general root volume, root tip, bifurcate, bifurcate of root tip, root dry weight and canopy dry weight) has significant increase by employing the Micro-Water Catchment Pattern compared with CK, T4has the highest values in all the parameters.(8) The Micro-Water Catchment Pattern has no significant effect in corncob row, bare tip and pachyrachis, while the value of ear length, ear width and row grains are higher than CK. Apart from2008which was the high flow year, the thousand seed weight of maize in Micro-Water Pattern in the other years were heavier than CK, T4was the heaviest. Micro-Water Catchment Patterns may increase the yield of maize in different extent, significantly, by comparing with convention planting pattern. From2007to2009, T2and T3had the highest increase yield, but T3was affected by the low temperature. In2012, T3maize yield was obviously lower than other patterns. During2012to2013, the optimized T4had the highest yield, much higher than other patterns, and had also the highest WUE.(9) In the durations of tasseling stage and mature stage of maize, the average readily available nutrient of soil in T4pattern is much lower than others. In Micro-Water Catchment Patterns, the maize grain yield’s nutrient utilization efficiency is higher than CK, T4pattern perform as the best.The study illustrates that T4pattern (round film mulching double-ridge pattern of Micro-Water Catchment Patterns) is the most optimized and the best pattern in accordance with this Micro-Water Catchment Patterns study.