SummaryPlastic film (PF) mulching is widely applied in agriculture to improve water-use efficiency (WUE) and crop production. However, without efficient recovery, the residual plastic fragments in arable land threaten soil health and food security. Degradable films are generally considered as alternatives to conventional PF to mitigate PF pollution. A 2-year field experiment was conducted in 2016 and 2017 to evaluate the effects of various film mulching treatments (conventional PF mulching, transparent degradable film (TDF) mulching, and black degradable film (BDF) mulching, and no mulching) on soil water availability and summer maize yield in the North China Plain (NCP). Soil moisture, soil water storage, water use, and grain yield were recorded. Below 20 cm depth, soil moisture and soil water storage were higher in film mulching than in no mulching. Conventional PF mulching yielded the best water conservation, especially from sowing to jointing. TDF and BDF were similar in their regulation of soil moisture. Comparing to no mulching, conventional PF and degradable transparent film significantly reduced maize grain yield by 15.4 and 8.0% (average over 2 years), and reduced WUE by 9.4 and 7.8% (average 2 years), respectively. The observed reduction of grain yield in transparent film mulching might be caused by excessive soil temperature, especially at vegetative stages, which potentially accelerates crop senescence. Black film mulching reduced the soil cumulative temperature and prevent crops from being overheated. As consequence, grain yield and WUE of summer maize under BDF covering were significantly increased by 11.1 and 15.6%, respectively, over the 2 years. Therefore, we suggest that BDF can be used to replace conventional plastics to improve crop yield and control environmental pollution in the NCP.

中文翻译：

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华北平原不同地膜覆盖对夏玉米产量及水分利用效率的响应

摘要塑料薄膜 (PF) 覆盖广泛应用于农业，以提高用水效率 (WUE) 和作物产量。然而，如果没有有效的恢复，耕地中残留的塑料碎片会威胁到土壤健康和粮食安全。可降解薄膜通常被认为是传统 PF 的替代品，以减轻 PF 污染。在 2016 年和 2017 年进行了为期 2 年的田间试验，以评估各种覆膜处理（常规 PF 覆膜、透明可降解膜 (TDF) 覆膜和黑色可降解膜 (BDF) 覆膜和不覆膜）对土壤水分的影响华北平原 (NCP) 的可用性和夏玉米产量。记录土壤水分、土壤蓄水量、用水量和粮食产量。深度20厘米以下，地膜覆盖的土壤水分和土壤蓄水量高于不覆盖的土壤水分和土壤蓄水量。传统的 PF 覆盖产生了最好的保水效果，特别是从播种到拔节。TDF 和 BDF 对土壤​​水分的调节作用相似。与不覆盖相比，常规 PF 和可降解透明膜显着降低玉米产量 15.4% 和 8.0%（2 年平均），WUE 分别降低 9.4% 和 7.8%（平均 2 年）。在透明薄膜覆盖中观察到的粮食产量减少可能是由于土壤温度过高引起的，特别是在营养阶段，这可能会加速作物衰老。黑膜覆盖降低了土壤累积温度，防止作物过热。结果，BDF 覆盖下夏玉米的产量和 WUE 在 2 年内分别显着提高了 11.1% 和 15.6%。因此，我们建议 BDF 可用于替代传统塑料，以提高作物产量并控制 NCP 的环境污染。