In arid and semi‐arid regions, ridge‐furrow with plastic mulch (RFM) is an innovative approach to promote crop productivity and enhance food security. The long‐term effect of the RFM system on soil water is not known. A 7‐yr maize (Zea mays L.) field experiment was conducted between 2012 and 2018 in the Chinese Loess Plateau to estimate the spatial and temporal variation of soil water. The objectives were to (a) understand how RFM affects soil water status during and between growing seasons; and (b) investigate whether RFM causes the formation of dry soil layers and threaten the sustainability of the agricultural system. In the nongrowing season, the average precipitation storage efficiency (PSE) of the plastic mulching treatment was 78.2%, compared to just 17.7% for no film mulching treatment. Higher PSE means that the RFM system stored more precipitation during the nongrowing season. In addition, 2‐ and 5‐m soil profile water status showed that the film mulching did not overuse deep soil water and would not lead to the formation of dry soil layers. Our research indicated that the RFM was beneficial for increasing crop production and sustainability of agriculture in semi‐arid regions. Higher PSE during the nongrowing season played an important role in the success of RFM system. We recommend that farmers adopted year‐round plastic mulch management method to make fuller use of water resources.

中文翻译：

---

在非生长季节更高的降水存储效率确保了旱地雨育农业系统的成功

在干旱和半干旱地区，垄沟覆盖塑料（RFM）是一种创新的方法，可以提高农作物的生产力并增强粮食安全。RFM系统对土壤水分的长期影响尚不清楚。7年玉米（玉米）L.）在2012年至2018年之间进行了黄土高原地区的田间试验，以估算土壤水的时空变化。目的是（a）了解RFM如何影响生长季节内和生长季节之间的土壤水分状况；（b）调查RFM是否导致干旱土壤层的形成并威胁农业系统的可持续性。在非生长季节，塑料覆盖处理的平均沉淀存储效率（PSE）为78.2％，而没有膜覆盖处理的仅为17.7％。PSE较高意味着RFM系统在非生长季节储存更多的降水。此外，2和5 m的土壤剖面水状况表明，覆膜不会过度使用深层土壤水，也不会导致形成干燥的土壤层。我们的研究表明，RFM有助于提高半干旱地区的作物产量和农业可持续性。在非生长季节，较高的PSE对RFM系统的成功发挥了重要作用。我们建议农民采用全年的塑料覆盖管理方法，以更充分地利用水资源。