Effect of straw belt-mulching on soil temperature and yield of winter wheat in rain-fed semiarid region.

To evaluate the effects of straw belt-covering on soil temperature and yield of winter wheat in rain-fed semiarid region in Northwest China, five mulching modes, including flat field planting without any mulching (CK), whole plastic film mulching (PM), straw mulching by 30 cm covering belt with an interval of 30 cm planting belt with three-row sowing (SM₁), straw mulching by 40 cm covering belt with an interval of 40 cm planting belt with four-row sowing (SM₂), and straw mulching by 50 cm covering belt with an interval of 50 cm planting belt with five-row sowing (SM3), were set by two-year fixed-site trails in 2013-2015. The results showed that soil temperature significantly varied among different growth stages and soil layers in all treatments. SM₁, SM₂ and SM₃ significantly decreased soil temperature by 1.0-1.3 °C, 0.7-0.9 °C and 0.7-1.1 °C in the 0-25 cm soil layer, respectively. The mulching had double effects with increasing and decreasing soil temperatures. The straw mulching significantly increased soil temperature in the duration of seedling to overwintering stage, but greatly decreased soil temperature in the duration of reviving to mature stage. The temperature-increasing effect of film mulching was stronger than that of straw mulching, which was opposite to the temperature-decreasing effect. Straw mulching significantly reduced in the effective accumulated temperature and the daily temperature variations during the whole growth stages. The effective accumulated temperature under straw mulching decreased by 3.433.5 °C, d, and the soil temperature difference decreased by 0.6-2.0 T. During over-wintering stage, the straw mulching showed a higher average soil temperature (0.2-0.3 °C,) and negative accumulated temperature (0.4-17.0 °C, d) than those under the CK. The straw mulching significantly increased grain yield by 11.9%-19.5%. The variations of spikes per unit area were the main factor responsible for yield difference. The findings indicated that that straw mulching method is suitable for winter wheat production in rain-fed region of Northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]