Abstract Mulching and deficit irrigation are often used to alleviate the contradiction between the water supply and consumption in the apple industry in the Loess Plateau of China. However, the effects of the combination of mulching and deficit irrigation on the soil environment and the growth and productivity of apple trees are not clear. Field experiments were conducted in 2018 and 2019, which included three mulching methods—horticultural fabric mulching (FM), corn straw mulching (SM), and clear tillage treatment with no mulching (TL)—and three irrigation strategies—full irrigation (W1), moderate deficit irrigation (W2), and severe deficit irrigation (W3). The results showed that both SM and FM significantly increased the soil water content (SWC), especially in the early stage of the growth period. SM significantly reduced and stabilized the soil temperature during the whole growth season and effectively delayed the onset of flowering, while FM had no significant effect on the soil temperature. Both mulching and irrigation significantly increased the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of leaves, and SM inhibited the occurrence of midday depression. A significant improvement of the yield was found in the SM and FM treatments, and there was little difference between them. Differences of the yield under different irrigation amounts were only reflected in the TL treatment in 2019, as a high soil moisture content under mulch counteracts part of the irrigation effect. Taken together, the results indicate that SM and FM have the potential to increase apple yields in the Loess Plateau by improving the soil environment and regulating the growth and physiology of apple trees.

中文翻译：

---

覆膜亏缺灌溉对苹果土壤水热、生长和生产力的影响

摘要 我国黄土高原苹果产业常采用覆盖和亏缺灌溉来缓解供水和消费之间的矛盾。然而，覆盖与亏缺灌溉相结合对土壤环境和苹果树生长和生产力的影响尚不清楚。2018年和2019年进行了田间试验，其中包括三种覆盖方式——园艺织物覆盖（FM）、玉米秸秆覆盖（SM）和免覆盖（TL）的清耕处理——以及三种灌溉策略——全灌（W1） 、中度亏缺灌溉 (W2) 和严重亏缺灌溉 (W3)。结果表明，SM和FM均显着增加了土壤含水量（SWC），尤其是在生育前期。SM在整个生长季节显着降低和稳定土壤温度，有效延迟开花的开始，而FM对土壤温度没有显着影响。覆盖和灌溉均显着提高了叶片的净光合速率（Pn），SM抑制了正午抑郁的发生。在SM和FM处理中发现产量显着提高，并且它们之间的差异很小。不同灌溉量下的产量差异仅反映在 2019 年的 TL 处理中，因为覆盖物下的高土壤含水量抵消了部分灌溉效果。综合起来，