Effects Of Different Film Mulching Methods On Lodging Resistance And Yield Of Spring Maize

The phenomenon of serious soil erosion and low utilization rate of water resources exists in the Loess Plateau.In recent years,the planting density of maize has also been increasing,which leads to the intensification of water cultivation and space competition among maize plants,the weak stalk of maize and poor root growth,and then the lodging degree of maize has increased.In order to solve this problem,this experiment conducted two consecutive spring maize field trials with ’Xianyu 335’ as the tested variety in the Changwu Loess Plateau Agro-Ecological Experimental Station of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018-2019,and adopted a single factor experimental design.Three treatments of flat land without mulching(CK),semi-plastic-film tiling mulching(M)and whole plastic-film double ridges mulching(RFM)were compared and studied to analyze the effects of different plastic-film mulching methods on the growth and development of corn,lodging characteristics and root growth of spring corn.The main research results showed that:1.Film-mulching significantly improved soil moisture,increased plant height,leaf area index and promoted dry matter accumulation during the whole growth period of spring maize.Whole plastic-film mulching on double ridges improved the plant height most obviously.The trends of leaf area index in two seasons were as follows: whole plastic-film mulching on double ridges treated > with half plastic-film tiling treated > with no mulching on flat ground;The dry matter accumulation of each treatment with plastic film mulching was higher than that without plastic film mulching.The effect of whole film mulching on double ridges on dry matter accumulation was more significant.2.Film mulching significantly increased the stem length,stem diameter and stem node dry weight of 3-5 maize stems.The average internode diameter of RFM in 2018-2019 was11.7% higher than that of CK and 8.5% higher than that of M.The average stem length of RFM was 9.2%-19.5 and 3.7%-8.5% higher than that of CK and M,respectively.Compared with CK,the dry weight of the third stem node and the dry weight per unit stem node of RFM and M treatments increased.The stem node dry weight and unit stem node dry weight of plastic film mulching treatment were higher than those of flat land without mulching.3.Film-mulching significantly increased the mechanical strength of stem.In two years,the compress strength,puncture strength and bending force of all treatments were RFM>M>CK.The effect of whole plastic-film double ridges on the mechanical strength of stem was more significant.Compared with flat land without mulching,the contents of cellulose and lignin in stem were increased by plastic film mulching.According to the results of this experiment,in two years,the contents of cellulose and lignin in each treatment were RFM>M>CK.4.Compared with flat land without mulching,mulching treatment effectively promoted root development.Compared with the flat land without mulching,the mulching treatment increased the number of underground root layers.The number of underground root layers in the whole plastic-film mulching on double ridges and the semi-plastic-film tiling treatment was Ⅶ layers,while the flat land without mulching treatment had the new layer.The mulching treatment also significantly increased the root biomass,among which the root dry weight of the whole plastic-film mulching on double ridges was the highest,which increased by 81.7% on average compared with that of CK in the two-year experiment.The root surface area,root volume and root length of plastic film mulching treatment were significantly different from those of CK.The treatment with whole film on double ridges had the highest value,followed by the treatment with half film tiling,and the treatment with flat land and no mulching had the lowest value.5.Plastic film mulching increased the effective panicle number,grain number per panicle and 100-grain weight of spring maize,and increased the yield obviously.In two years,the water use efficiency of RFM treatment was 4.87% and 15.15% higher than that of M and CK.Film mulching treatment increased the yield of spring corn,and effectively increased the grain number per ear and 100-grain weight of spring corn,among which the yield of whole film mulching on double ridges was the highest.In two years,the yield of RFM treatment was 13.74% and 59.94% higher than that of M and CK respectivelyTherefore,plastic film mulching can promote the root growth and development of spring maize in the Loess Plateau,improve the lodging resistance of maize stem,and significantly increase maize yield.Among them,the whole film double furrow sowing technology has the most significant effect on improving the stem development and root growth of spring maize,which can be popularized in the Loess Plateau region.