Mulched drip irrigation is regarded as an effective water-saving irrigation technique that is adopted widely in dryland regions. However, due to the lack of efficient mulch film recovery, residual plastic film fragments accumulating in soil nowadays pose a risk to agricultural production sustainability. To mitigate the pollution result from polyethylene (PE) film mulching and demonstrate the relationship between soil microenvironment, photosynthetic capacity, yield, and water use efficiency of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in various mulching practices, a two-year field experiment was carried out to test five mulching practices (sprayable degradable film mulching; biodegradable transparent film with an 80-day induction period mulching; biodegradable transparent film with a 100-day induction period mulching; conventional transparent polyethylene film mulching; no film mulching) in Xinjiang, Northwest China. The results showed that mulching significantly increased soil water content and temperature by 23.83% and 15.01% (average on two years) in topsoil compared to the bare soil surface, associated with a higher plant height, leaf area index, photosynthetic rate and aboveground biomass accumulation. Soil moisture, temperature, and crop height all significantly influenced cotton leaf photosynthetic rate, and soil moisture had the most significant impact (the direct path coefficient was 0.450). The highest cotton yield and WUE were observed in PE film mulching (5480.59 kg ha⁻¹ and 1.35 kg m⁻³, respectively, average on two years) and the biodegradable transparent film with a 100-day induction period was comparable with PE film in yield increased and reduction of water loss (yield and WUE was 5357.51 kg ha⁻¹ and 1.29 kg m⁻³, respectively, average on two years). The sprayable biodegradable film also had good wetting and warming effects on soil, but notably, sprayable film performances were still weaker than that in solid films. Compared to solid degradable films mulching, soil moisture, soil temperature, photosynthetic rate, yield, and WUE in sprayable film mulching was decreased by 5.55%, 7.19%, 31.41%, 5.31%, and 8.58% on average, respectively. In general, biodegradable transparent film with a 100-day induction period could significantly improve soil water-heat status, enhance cotton development, reduce water evaporation, increase cotton yield and WUE, which provides a cotton-cultivation option to control residual PE fragments pollution and maintained cotton yield.

膜下滴灌被认为是一种有效的节水灌溉技术，在干旱地区被广泛采用。然而，由于缺乏有效的覆盖膜回收，如今残留在土壤中的残留塑料膜碎片对农业生产的可持续性构成了威胁。为了减轻由聚乙烯（PE）膜中的污染结果和地膜覆盖土壤展示出微环境，光合能力，产量和棉花的水分利用效率之间的关系（陆地棉L.）在各种覆盖实践中进行了为期两年的野外试验，以测试五种覆盖实践（可喷涂降解膜覆盖；诱导期为80天的可生物降解透明膜；诱导期为100天的可生物降解透明膜覆膜；常规透明聚乙烯薄膜覆膜；无薄膜覆膜）。结果表明，覆盖与地表土壤相比，表土层的土壤水分和温度显着提高了23.83％和15.01％（平均两年），与更高的株高，叶面积指数，光合速率和地上生物量积累相关。土壤水分，温度和作物高度都显着影响棉叶的光合速率，土壤水分的影响最大（直接路径系数为0.450）。在PE膜覆盖下（5480.59 kg公顷）观察到最高的棉花产量和WUE。^-1和1.35公斤米^-3，分别平均上两年），和生物可降解透明膜具有100天的诱导期是与PE膜相媲美产量增加和减少的水分损失（产量和水分利用效率5357.51公斤公顷^{- 1}和1.29 kg m ^-3分别平均为两年）。可喷涂生物降解薄膜对土壤也具有良好的润湿和增温作用，但值得注意的是，可喷涂薄膜的性能仍比固体薄膜弱。与固体可降解膜覆盖相比，可湿膜覆盖的土壤水分，土壤温度，光合速率，产量和WUE分别平均降低了5.55％，7.19％，31​​.41％，5.31％和8.58％。通常，具有100天诱导期的可生物降解的透明薄膜可以显着改善土壤水热状况，促进棉花发育，减少水份蒸发，提高棉花产量和WUE，这为控制残留PE碎片污染和棉花种植提供了棉花种植选择。维持棉花产量。