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Excavated farmland with plastic mulching as a strategy in saving water and controlling soil salinization in dryland agricultural areas
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  • Zengming Ke,
  • Xiaoli Liu,
  • Lihui Ma,
  • Qinge Dongle,
  • Feng Jiao,
  • Zhanli Wang
Zengming Ke
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Northwest A & F University

Corresponding Author:kzm@nwsuaf.edu.cn

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Xiaoli Liu
Northwest A&F University
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Lihui Ma
Northwest A&F University
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Qinge Dongle
Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University
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Feng Jiao
Northwest A&F University
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Zhanli Wang
State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation
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Abstract

Water shortage and soil salinization in gully farmland comprising sediment deposited farmland (SF) and excavated farmland (EF) have become a widespread concern in the loess hilly region. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the soil water content (SWC) and salt content (SSC) and their effect on the spring maize yield and water use efficiency in SF and EF. Eight treatments comprising flat cropping without mulching (1), ridge planting without mulching (2), ridge planting with plastic mulching (3), and ridge planting with straw mulching (4) were tested in the SF and EF plots, respectively. The results showed that the yield was higher in SF than EF, whereas the water use efficiency was significantly higher in EF because the bottom water flux was 117.4% higher in SF than EF (P < 0.01). A significant positive correlation was found between the average SWC and yield (P < 0.01), thereby indicating that the yield was severely limited by the SWC. Thus, the higher water use efficiency in EF has important implications for alleviating water scarcity during agricultural production in this region. The risk of soil salinization was decreased greatly by treatment 3 where the SSC was decreased in EF and SF were 0.09 g kg–1 and 0.08 g kg–1, respectively. In addition, treatment 3 had the most significant impacts on the yield and water use efficiency. Our study provided appropriate land type and effective tillage measure for the sustainable development in dryland agricultural areas.
07 Jan 2022Submitted to Land Degradation & Development
08 Jan 2022Submission Checks Completed
08 Jan 2022Assigned to Editor
08 Jan 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Jan 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 Feb 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Major
08 Mar 20221st Revision Received
08 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
08 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
25 Mar 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Mar 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
11 Apr 20222nd Revision Received
12 Apr 2022Submission Checks Completed
12 Apr 2022Assigned to Editor
17 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
23 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
02 May 20223rd Revision Received
03 May 2022Submission Checks Completed
03 May 2022Assigned to Editor
14 May 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
14 May 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
19 May 20224th Revision Received
22 May 2022Submission Checks Completed
22 May 2022Assigned to Editor
23 May 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
23 May 2022Editorial Decision: Accept