Soil environment and maize productivity in semi-humid regions prone to drought of Weibei Highland are improved by ridge-and-furrow tillage with mulching

Ridge-and-furrow tillage with mulching is used to increase soil water availability to crops, thereby improving and stabilizing agricultural production in the semi-humid prone to drought of Weibei Highland, China. In this study, field trials were conducted during the 2007-2011 to determine the effects of ridge-and-furrow tillage with mulching on soil water and temperature, maize growth, yield, water use efficiency and soil organic carbon and nitrogen contents in Weibei Highland. Ridges were mulched with plastic film, while furrows were mulched with plastic film (PF + PF), biodegradable film (PF + BF), maize straw (PF + MS), liquid film (PF + LF), or left unmulched (PF), respectively. The conventional plat tillage without mulching, where the bare soil is tilled without formation of ridges and furrows, was used as the control check (CK). The PF + PF, PF + BF and PF + MS treatments significantly (P < 0.05) increased soil water storage (0-200 cm) and topsoil temperature (5-25 cm), biomass (root and shoot), maize grain yield and water use efficiency over five growing seasons, when compared with CK. The soil water storage and topsoil temperature under PF + PF and PF + BF were significantly (P < 0.05) higher at 0-60 days after sowing (DAS). PF + MS always had the highest soil water storage and the lowest topsoil temperature during the whole growing season. The soil water storage and topsoil temperature status under PF+LF and PF were slightly greater than CK, but there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences among the treatments. The higher maize yield and water use efficiency were found with PF + PF, PF + BF and PF + MS during the study period. The ridge-and-furrow tillage with mulching played an important role in maintaining soil organic carbon, nitrogen balance through a five-year field experiment. Taking together, in consideration of soil environmental and economic feasibility, we recommend that the mulching of ridge-and-furrow tillage with biodegradable film (PF + BF) and straw (PF + MS) are considered to be efficient for improving soil environment and maize productivity in semi-humid areas prone to drought of Weibei Highland, China.