Effects of film mulching on ridge and over furrow for rainwater harvesting and increasing soil thickness on water consumption and yield of pumpkins

Considering the factors of drought, roughness and thin soil layer, which limited the steady and high crop yield in sandy chestnut soil in north west of Hebei plateau, a field experiment was conducted to study the effects of film mulching on ridge and over furrow for rainwater harvesting, fertilization and increasing surface soil thickness on the water consumption and yields of pumpkins. Results show that film mulching over furrow collects precipitation and helds soil water effectively. The soil water storage in 0～1 m layer at harvesting increases 56.79 mm than that at pre-sowing. Compared with film mulching on ridge treatment, water consumption of film mulching over furrow is decreased by 51.61 mm and water use efficiency(WUE) is increased by 16.42 kg·mm^-1·hm^-2. With film mulching on ridge treatments, the difference of yields with increasing soil thickness is significant. With film mulching over furrow treatments, the yields of 40 cm and 60 cm soil thickness are high, but are not significant. The highest yield is in the treatment of film mulching over furrow, increasing surface soil thickness to 40 cm and using fertilizer of N₆₀P₄₅, which reaches 9812.5 kg/hm². This technique may be used as a kind of planting mode for increasing yields and water use efficiency on dryland fields in west-north of Hebei plateau.