Effects of combined drip irrigation and mulching practices on the soil evaporation characteristics in a young apple orchard in arid northwestern China
Xinyu WANG1,2,3, Haijing WANG1,2,3, Xiao LI1,2,3, Di WANG1,2,3()
. State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Water Resources, China Agricultural University,Beijing 100083, China . College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China . National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station on Efficient Water Use of Oasis Agriculture,Wuwei 733009, China
Soil evaporation (SE) is a key component of regional hydrological balance, especially in arid areas. China has the largest area of apple orchards in the world, but the effects of mulching practices on SE dynamics and their controlling factors remain poorly understood in orchards using drip irrigation (DI). This study was conducted to address these issues by measuring SE, meteorological factors, soil temperature (ST), and soil water content (SWC) in young apple orchard under two mulching treatments during the growing season. Field experiments, which included three treatments—film mulching (FM) and maize straw mulching (SM), and clean tillage (TL) as a comparator—were conducted in 3-year-old apple orchard with DI in arid northwestern China. The results revealed that mulching significantly affected the daily SE dynamics of the young orchard (p < 0.05), and the daily mean SE under FM, SM, and TL treatments was about 1.3 ± 0.5, 1.3 ± 0.4, and 1.7 ± 0.4 mm·d−1, respectively. No significant differences were detected in the daily SE between FM and SM treatments (p > 0.05), whereas the daily SWC in the four soil layers to 120 cm were consistently greater under SM treatment than under FM and TL treatments (p < 0.05). Compared to the TL treatment, the daily SE under FM and SM treatments was more susceptible to meteorological factors. Stepwise regression analysis showed that the daily SE of the young orchard was mainly controlled by the vapor pressure deficit, reference evapotranspiration and solar radiation, regardless of the treatment. However, there was no significant relationship between the daily SE and wind speed under TL treatment (p > 0.05). This study highlighted the significant differences in SE losses and SWC dynamics of the mulching treatments. Overall, SM is considered to be a more effective mulching practice for reducing unproductive SE and improving SWC status in young apple orchards with DI in arid and similar climatic regions.
Just Accepted Date: 28 April 2024Online First Date: 28 May 2024Issue Date: 12 November 2024
Cite this article:
Xinyu WANG,Haijing WANG,Xiao LI, et al. Effects of combined drip irrigation and mulching practices on the soil evaporation characteristics in a young apple orchard in arid northwestern China[J]. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. ,
2024, 11(4): 575-588.
Fig.1 Seasonal variations in precipitation (P) (a), solar radiation (SR) (b), air temperature (AT) (c), relative humidity (RH) (d), wind speed (WS) (e), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (f), and reference evapotranspiration (ET0) (g) during the study period.
Fig.2 Daily soil water content (SWC) throughout the 120-cm soil profile under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c) during the study period.
Fig.3 Daily soil temperature (ST) in the 0–30 cm soil layer under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c) during the study period.
Fig.4 Dynamics of daily soil evaporation (SE) of a young apple orchard under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c) during the study period.
Fig.5 Comparison of mean daily soil evaporation (SE) (a), tree height (TH) (b), and tree diameter (TD) (c) in a young apple orchard under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI, and clear tillage (TL) with DI during the study period. Bars with the letter are not significantly differences in daily SE, TH, and TD between treatments (p < 0.05).
Fig.6 Dynamics of tree height (TH) and tree diameter (TD) of a young apple orchard under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a and d), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b and e), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c and f) during the study period.
Treatment
Regression equation
Adjust R2
F value
FM
SE = 0.687VPD ? 0.700ET0 + 0.013SR ? 0.128
0.407
25.3**
SM
SE = 0.668VPD ? 0.684ET0 + 0.013SR ? 0.112
0.416
22.4**
TL
SE = 0.876VPD ? 0.837ET0 + 0.015SR + 0.021
0.418
19.4**
Tab.1 The stepwise regression equations between daily soil evaporation (SE) and the influencing factors under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI, and clear tillage (TL) with DI during the study period
Fig.7 Correlations between daily soil evaporation (SE) and the influencing factors under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c). SR, AT, RH, WS, VPD, ET0, ST, and SWC are solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, vapor pressure deficit, reference evapotranspiration, soil temperature, and soil water content, respectively. *Indicates significance at 0.05 level.
Fig.8 Comparison of mean daily soil temperature (ST) (a) and soil water content (SWC) (b) at different depths in a young apple orchard under different treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI, and clear tillage (TL) with DI. Bars with the same uppercase letter are significantly different in ST and SWC between treatments for the same depth (p < 0.05). Those with the same lowercase letters are not significantly different in ST and SWC between depths for the same treatment (p < 0.05).
Fig.9 Relationships between daily soil evaporation (SE) and soil temperature (ST) at different soil depths under three treatments of film mulching (FM) with drip irrigation (DI) (a), maize straw mulching (SM) with DI (b), and clear tillage (TL) with DI (c) during the study period.
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