Effects of wheat yield and water use under dual-mulching mode of plastic film and straw in the dryland farming

It is very important to study the mulched measure for improving water use efficiency (WUE) in dryland farming. The effects of water, nitrogen fertilizer and yield on the dry farmland with different straw and plastic film mulching modes were studied in the field experiment from 1998 to 2003. The results show that, under the dual mulching mode of plastic film and straw, the grain yield increase by 12.11%～17.65%, the WUE increase by 7.2%～30.8%, the water content in arable layer increased to 12%～16%, and the nitrate nitrogen content in arable layer increase to 4.70～10.17 mg/kg. The dual mulching mode of plastic film and straw can remarkably increase crop yield and WUE. At the same time, it can remarkably increase the water content and the nitrate nitrogen content in arable layer, so nitrate leaching and accumulation in soil profile is alleviated.