Effects Of Covering On Soil Water Storage And Yield Of Dwarf Apple Orchard In Weibei, China

Drought and water shortage,interannual precipitation and uneven distribution during the year were one of the key factors restricting rainfed agricultural production in dryland in China.The Loess Plateau was a traditional dry farming area in China,and it was also recognized as a high-quality apple producing area in the world.The apple industry on the Loess Plateau had become a pillar industry,a dominant industry and a rich industry for promoting economic development and improving the ecological environment in the region.It was also the region with the largest area of apple contiguous cultivation in the world.However,the natural precipitation in this area was small,the water resources were congenitally deficient,and 90% of the apple orchards had no irrigation conditions.They were typical rain-fed agricultural areas,and the natural precipitation in the area varies greatly from year to year,and the precipitation was uneven in time and space during the year.Water supply and demand misplacement,especially the soil water deficit caused by drought in spring and summer severely restricted the nutrient absorption,growth and yield formation of fruit trees,how to improve the utilization of limited water resources,realized the annual regulation of water and cross-season utilization was the apple in the dry land of Weibei.Based on field positioning observation,black ground fabric micro-ridge mulching,corn stalk mulching and clean tillage were applied to analyze the change of soil water storage,water consumption,yield and water use efficiency in Weibei dryland dwarf apple root zone under different yearly precipitation patterns.The results showed that:(1)Weibei dryland dwarf apple with different precipitation years in the Loess Plateau increased the average water storage of 0-300 cm soil layer,which had better water storage and water retention performance,and provided a better soil moisture environment for weibei dryland dwarf apple.Its regulation and storage function showed obvious hierarchical structure,which greatly improved the soil water storage and water supply capacity of the main distribution layer of apple roots.Black ground fabric micro-ridge mulching was better than straw corn in different precipitation years.The average water storage capacity of 0-300 cm soil in dryland dwarf apple was higher than that of straw corn,especially for deep soil storage.(2)Covering treatment significantly increased the water consumption of the orchard.significantly increased the productive water consumption of the fruit trees,and reduced the ineffective evaporation of water moisture,and increased the conversion of precipitation tosoil water and soil water to the transpiration of fruit trees.(3)The consumption and utilization of soil water storage in the dryland dwarf apple orchard had a great influence on the growth and precipitation of fruit trees,especially due to unstable precipitation.The recovery of soil water storage at the end of the growing season of mulch was closely related to the precipitation in the middle and late growth stages of fruit trees.(4)The coverage showed significant increase in yield,and the different precipitation types were significantly improved compared with the clear tillage control.The apple yield and quality were significantly different from the clear tillage control,which improved the water use efficiency of the fruit trees.The water consumption of fruit trees was closely related to yield,yield and The synergy of water consumption is the main reason for covering measures to improve the water use efficiency of dwarf apples in dryland.Compared with corn stalk,there was no significant difference in fruit yield,quality and water use efficiency.(5)Black ground fabric micro-ridge mulching and straw corn had the functions of water storage and moisture conservation,improved water use efficiency and reduced steam production and increasing yield,which effectively improves soil water storage capacity and water supply capacity of the main distribution layer of dwarf apple roots,and enhanced deep soil water storage.The regulation and storage function promoted the utilization of water resources and improved the self-regulation ability of soil moisture in the dwarf apple orchard in the Weibei dryland.At the same time,the horticultural ground cloth had the advantages of environmental protection,no pollution to the environment,and can be used for many years.It was an effective water storage and protection technology in dwarf apple cultivation system.