Simulated study on soil moisture of field under water micro-collecting farming conditions

Water micro-collecting farming is one of the most effective practice to improve crop production in arid areas, the optimization design of strip shape(the width of ridge and furrow, and ration between them) is a key problem for WMCF system. The study was conducted by using sprinkler to simulate rainfall. The ratio of rainfall distribution between furrow and ridge, lateral distribution of rainfall in the furrow, maximum depth of rainfall infiltration in the furrow, and vertical distribution of rainfall in the furrow were analyzed. The results show that the narrow strip is more effective in the storage and preservation of rainwater than wide strip, as ridge and furrow width becomes narrower, the ridge has the more share of rainwater, rainwater distribution tends to be more even in the furrow and the vertical infiltration in the furrow becomes slightly lower.