Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

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Field Crops Research

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Effects of sub-soil plastic film mulch on soil water and salt content and water T
utilization by winter wheat under different soil salinities
⁎
Mingming Zhanga,b, Baodi Donga, , Yunzhou Qiaoa, Hong Yanga,b, Yakai Wanga,b, Mengyu Liua
a
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Laboratory of Agricultural Water-Saving, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and
Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road, Shijiazhuang, 050021, China
b
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Winter wheat yields in dryland saline soils are limited by water shortages and soil salinity. Mulching is one
Mulch approach to ameliorate water deficit and salt stress. A two-year field experiment was conducted in North China’s
Soil water Bohai Lowland Plain to evaluate the effects of sub-soil plastic film mulch on soil moisture, soil salinity, and water
Soil salinity use efficiency of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under three levels of soil salinity. The results showed that
Soil evaporation
mulching significantly increased soil moisture in the top 20 cm of soil by up to 33.1% at the seedling stage and
Winter wheat
decreased salinity by up to 73.7% in topsoil, compared with no-mulch. Mulching also reduced evaporation by
Water use efficiency
27.3 mm and increased transpiration by 34.1 mm (average over two years). Plants in the mulch treatment
showed higher aboveground biomass than those in the control group and had a similar harvest index. Compared
to no-mulch, the average grain yield for the two years was 1579, 1743, and 2377 kg ha−1 greater under
mulching under salinity levels of 1‰, 2‰, and 3‰, respectively, and the corresponding values of water use
efficiency for yield were 27.6%, 40.4%, and 96.6%. Sub-soil plastic film mulch significantly inhibited soil
evaporation and salt accumulation, promoted aboveground biomass, and increased grain yield and water use
efficiency in dryland saline soil compared with no-mulch. Furthermore, the higher the soil salinity level, the
more mulching suppressed soil salinity and improved water utilization by crops compared with no-mulch.

1. Introduction that is important in terms of economic development and agricultural

Dryland crop production is the main source of staple food for most
densely populated areas, such as China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa
(Daryanto et al., 2017). However, in arid and semi-arid regions, soil
salinity and water deficit have severely restricted the development of
agriculture. Saline soil is widespread throughout the world, occupying
about 36 million ha in China, and is one of the most important types of
low-yield soils in China (Huo et al., 2017; Yang, 2008).
China is the world’s largest producer of wheat (Daryanto et al.,
2016). Dryland wheat accounts for 55–60% of the wheat planting area
in China. However, dryland areas experience water loss through runoff
and evaporation, with up to 70%–80% of rainfall being lost; this loss
represents a quarter to half of the total water consumed by winter
wheat crops (Zhao, 2013). In addition, unevenly distributed precipita-
tion, high evaporation, and a shallow groundwater table all increase
soil salinity (Dong et al., 2010; Lei et al., 2001).
The Bohai Lowland Plain, located in North China, is a coastal area
potential. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most im-
portant crops in this area and is grown on about 734,000 ha here (Ju
et al., 2016). This crop is sensitive to salinity in its early growth and
development, especially during the emergence and early seedling stages
(Jiang et al., 2012). The proportion of 1.0–3.0 g L−1 brackish water in
shallow groundwater in this region is 40.8%, and 3.0–5.0 g L−1
brackish water accounts for 8.7% (Zhou et al., 2010). Due to increased
exploitation of shallow fresh and brackish water, the area of the
3.0–5.0 g L−1 brackish water has increased (Liu et al., 2017). In the
Baohai Lowland Plain, soil salinity in the 0–60 cm soil profile varies
from 0.4 g kg−1 to 5.0 g kg−1, with soil salinity of 1.0–3.0 g kg−1 and
3.0–5.0 g kg−1 accounting for 55.8% and 0.7% of the total area, re-
spectively (Wang et al., 2012b). Due to the large amount of evaporation
and low precipitation in spring and fall, the heavy precipitation in
summer, and the dry and cold weather in winter, soil salt changes
throughout the year, generally accumulating in spring and fall, leaching
in summer, and stabilizing in winter (Liu et al., 2010). Soil salinity

⁎
Corresponding author at: Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 286 Huaizhong Road,
Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. Tel: +86 311 85825949; Fax: +86 311 85815093.
E-mail addresses: zhangmingming13@mails.ucas.ac.cn (M. Zhang), dongbaodi@126.com (B. Dong), qiaoyunzhou@sjziam.ac.cn (Y. Qiao), yanghong215@mails.ucas.ac.cn (H. Yang),
wangyakai.01@163.com (Y. Wang), mengyuliu2016@126.com (M. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2018.06.010
Received 15 February 2018; Received in revised form 21 June 2018; Accepted 21 June 2018
0378-4290/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.
M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

reduces the value of soil resources, causes great losses to crop pro-
duction, and poses a threat to the environment (Shao et al., 2016). Most
saline soils will become unproductive and abandoned if the soil salinity
is not solved effectively (Wu et al., 2008). Crops face the dual chal-
lenges of salinity and drought in saline soils (Zhao et al., 2016). The soil
salinity not only has osmotic effects on plants but also often creates a
water-deficit environment, creating physiological drought (Zhang et al.,
2017). With the increase of irrigation water salinity, the yield of winter
wheat decreased. Wheat yield decreased by 7%–13% when the irriga-
tion water salinity was 2–3 g L−1, and decreased by 13–24% when the
salinity was 3–5 g L−1 (Shang et al., 2009; Qiao et al., 2007). Therefore,
effective techniques for controlling soil salinity and increasing water
use efficiency of wheat are needed to cope with these challenges.
Agronomic management measures should be focused on reducing
unprofitable water loss due to soil evaporation, maintaining the bene-
ficial physical properties of soil, and maintaining soil salinity within an
acceptable range for plant growth (Bezborodov et al., 2010). Mulch film
has been utilized since 1978 in China (Zhou et al., 2009), and is an
important agricultural technique. Nationwide, the use of mulch film has
increased wheat grain production by 33.2% (Liu et al., 2014). Plastic
mulch conserves water in areas where irrigation is limited or not
available and protects emerging crops from low spring soil tempera-
tures (Zhou et al., 2009). Mulching can retain soil water content and
increase soil temperature, thereby improving the crop yield (Du et al.,
2016; Ju et al., 2016), as well as decreasing soil evaporation, increasing
soil moisture efficiency, improving the physical characteristics of the
soil, reducing salt damage to crops, accelerating crop germination and
growth, and increasing the water use efficiency of crops (Gong et al.,
2017; Li et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2011; Zhao et al., 2016). The ef-
fectiveness of mulch film varies, depending on the type of soil condi-
tions, climate, and the interactions between these factors (Han et al.,
2014). Qin et al. (2015) also reported that the effects of plastic
mulching strongly depend on environmental conditions. Plastic
mulching effect performed better at relatively low temperature, tended
to decrease with an increase in the availability of water, and tended to
increase with N input (Qin et al., 2015). However, they did not speci-
fically focus on the combined effects of soil mulching and salinity in
wheat yield. Therefore, it is important to quantitatively examine the
effect of this water-saving strategy with different soil salinities.
In recent years, sub-soil plastic film mulch has been used widely in
Northwestern China to reduce soil evaporation and maximize rain-fed
wheat production. In the past, the use of plastic mulch was expensive
and labor-intensive, requiring annual installation. The recent in-
troduction of a rotary-filming-soil covering seeder has made the process
more affordable and allowed shallow rotary tillage, paving plastic
mulch, covering soil, punching, and seeding operations to proceed si-
multaneously. However, few studies have examined the effects of this
new mulch model on soil moisture, salinity dynamics, and winter wheat
growth in saline soils under rain-fed conditions. Thus, the main ob-
jective of the present study was to measure the effects of sub-soil plastic
film mulch on soil moisture and salinity dynamics as well as on winter
wheat yield and water utilization under different soil salinities. Our
results from a dryland region can be applied to quantitatively evaluate
the value of sub-soil plastic film mulch in other semi-arid regions that
are severely affected by drought and soil salinity.
2. Materials and methods
Fig. 1. Monthly precipitation (P, mm) and temperature (T, °C) from 2015 to
2017 during winter wheat growing seasons.
representative of coastal lowland plain areas with water deficit and
saline soil. The main crops in this area are wheat, corn (Zea mays L.),
and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), along with some oil crops, vege-
tables, and fruits. A winter wheat–summer corn rotation is the main
cropping system in this area and was implemented in the fields in this
study. The mean annual rainfall is 480 mm, with more than 70% of the
precipitation concentrated in June to September. The mean annual
temperature is 12.3 °C. The region receives 2938.6 average hours of
sunshine a year, 5592.3 MJ cm−2 in annual average radiation, and
4232 °C in total accumulated temperature units. The average annual
rainfall during the winter wheat growing season for 20 years
(1996–2016) in the study area was 125 mm. During the present study,
the first and second growing seasons received 114.1 and 86.2 mm of
precipitation, respectively. According to the method described by Fu
et al. (2014), 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 were considered a normal
year and a drought year, respectively. Weather data were obtained from
the weather station at the experimental site. The monthly total pre-
cipitation and mean temperature are shown in Fig. 1.
The soil at the study site is light loamy soil with mild salinity. The
0–30 cm layer of the soil contained 15.36 g kg−1 organic matter,
71.86 mg kg−1 available nitrogen, 20.88 mg kg−1 available phos-
phorus, and 120.54 mg kg−1 available potassium. The average soil bulk
density was 1.40 g·cm-3 and field capacity was 0.34 (m3 m-3) for a 2-m
profile. Detailed soil physical properties are listed in Table 1.
2.2. Experimental design
A field experiment was carried out during the winter wheat growing
seasons for 2015–2017 using a randomized block design with three
replicates. The experiment included 6 treatments combining two levels
of planting patterns and three levels of soil salinity. The planting pat-
tern treatments included no-mulch (M0) and sub-soil plastic film mulch
Table 1
Soil physical properties at the experimental site.
Soil depth Percentage of particle content (%) Soil texture
(cm) classification
< 0.002 mm 0.02–0.002 mm 2–0.02 mm

0–10 3.0 36.9 60.1 Sandy loam

2.1. Experimental site
10–20 1.6 37.5 60.9 Sandy loam
20–40 2.4 35.2 62.4 Sandy loam
The experiment was conducted during the winter wheat growing 40–60 1.7 42.3 56.0 Sandy loam
seasons in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 under rain-fed conditions in the 60–80 2.3 49.5 48.2 Silty sandy loam
Nanpi Eco-Agricultural Experimental Station of Chinese Academy of 80–100 2.4 53.4 44.2 Silty sandy loam
100–120 1.4 41.4 57.2 Sandy loam
Sciences (116°40′E, 38°00′N; elevation, 11 m). Nanpi Station lies in the
120–140 1.3 42.5 56.2 Sandy loam
low plain near Bohai Sea in the North China Plain and has a warm, 140–160 1.4 39.1 59.5 Sandy loam
temperate, semi-humid, continental monsoon climate. It is

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M. Zhang et al.
Fig. 2. Working process of the rotary-filming-soil covering seeder (2MBXF-120) and field picture after sowing.
(M1). The soil salinity levels were 1‰ (S1), 2‰ (S2), and 3‰ (S3). We
only set up the salinity treatment in 2015–2016. Each treatment plot
was insulated by double-plastic film buried to a 120 cm depth relative
to the soil surface to minimize the effects of lateral water and salt
movement between plots. At the beginning of June 2015, the soil and
irrigation water salinity of the experimental plot was measured, and the
total amount of salt that needed to be added to the soil to bring the soil
salinity to 2 g·kg−1 and 3 g·kg−1 in the 0–1 m soil profile was calculated
according to soil and irrigation water salinity datum. At the beginning
of June 50% of salt was applied, and dissolved by splashing it with
water. The area was then irrigated with 60 mm water to leaching the
salt. At the beginning of July, we repeated this procedure with the re-
maining salt. A rotary-filming-soil covering seeder 2MBXF-120 (Taohe
tractor factory, Gansu province, China) was used. The mulch film is
ordinary transparent film, 1.2 m width, 0.008 mm thick, and colorless.
After sowing, there was a soil layer about 1 cm thick on the film. The
average row spacing was 15 cm. Plant spacing within rows was 12 cm.
After sowing, the plastic film fully covered the field, except for the
2.5 cm diameter seedling holes. The working process of the 2MBXF-120
and a picture after sowing are shown in Fig. 2. Some rainfall can in-
filtrate the root zone through the wheat seedling holes. A local winter
wheat cultivar, Xiaoyan 60, was planted on October 15 each year at a
seeding rate of 225 kg ha−1. 'Xiaoyan 60′ has the characteristics of
drought tolerance and salt tolerance (Zhang et al., 2016). The size of
each experimental plot was 3.5 m × 24 m. The experimental plots were
rain-fed throughout the growing season. Before planting each season,
fertilizer (349 kg N ha–1, 237 kg P2O5 ha–1, and 45 kg K2O ha–1) was
applied as 100% basal. Each plot’s position remained the same over the
two years and other field management practices were conducted using
the same standards as those used in local fields.
2.3. Experimental methods
2.3.1. Soil sampling and analysis
Soil samples were obtained from each plot using an auger at the
sowing, wintering, recovery, jointing, heading, anthesis, filling, and
maturity stages of winter wheat. Samples were taken from the following
depths: 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm, 60–80 cm,
80–100 cm, 100–120 cm, 120–140 cm, and 140–160 cm. Like in several
previous studies (Ren et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018), soil moisture was
measured in the 160 cm soil profile since more than 90% of the wheat
root system is distributed in the first 100 cm of soil in the North China
Plain (Xu et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2014). The water content was
measured using the oven-drying method. Soil samples from 0 to 100 cm
were air-dried and passed through a 1-mm sieve. The salt content was
then measured according to Wang et al. (2017). Soil temperatures at a
depth of 15 cm were measured using bent-stem soil thermometers.
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Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140
Temperatures were recorded continuously for 7 days at each stage of
winter wheat.
2.3.2. Aboveground biomass, yield, and yield components
The plants were harvested manually and three 1-m2 samples were
selected at random from each plot. All plant samples were removed
from the plots and air dried to a grain water content of approximately
11%. The aboveground biomass and the spike numbers per 1 m2 were
recorded. Plants were then threshed using a stationary thresher to ob-
tain the grain yield, and the 1000-grain weight was measured as the
average of three replicates. In addition, 20 winter wheat plants were
chosen randomly from each plot to determine the grain number per
spike.
2.3.3. Water use
Evapotranspiration (ET) for growing periods and the entire growing
season of winter wheat was calculated using the water balance method
modified from that described by Sun et al. (2012) and Dong et al.
(2014):
ET = P + ΔSWC (1)
where ET (mm) is the total water consumption during a given growth
period, P (mm) is precipitation, and ΔSWC (mm) is the initial soil water
content minus the final soil water content. Because there was no irri-
gation in this study and the region has a flat landscape, with deep soil
layers, little precipitation, and no downpour, runoff and drainage were
negligible.
Soil evaporation was measured using microlysimeters made from
PVC tubes with a 10-cm inner diameter and 15-cm length (Sun et al.,
2006). Microlysimeters were installed at three different positions in
each treatment group between two rows of wheat plants. The micro-
lysimeters were pushed vertically into the soil and the bottoms were
sealed with waterproof adhesive tape. The microlysimeters were
weighed daily at 5 p.m. using an electronic balance with 0.01 g preci-
sion. The difference in weight was used to calculate daily soil eva-
poration.
Water use efficiency at the grain yield level (WUEy) was defined as
the grain yield (kg ha−1) divided by ET (mm). Water use efficiency at
the biomass level (WUEbm) was calculated as aboveground biomass (kg
ha−1) divided by ET (mm). Harvest index (HI) was defined as the grain
yield (kg ha−1) divided by aboveground biomass (kg ha−1):
WUEy = Yield/ET (2)
WUEbm = Biomass/ET (3)
HI = Yield/Biomass (4)
M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

Fig. 3. Soil moisture in the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layers under M0 (no-mulch) and M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments for three soil salinity levels (S1:
1‰ soil salinity; S2: 2‰ soil salinity; S3: 3‰ soil salinity) during the seedling stage of winter wheat. Values are means of three replicates ± standard deviation.

Table 2
Effects of different treatments on soil moisture in different soil layers (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, 40–60 cm, 60–80 cm, 80–100 cm, 100–120 cm, 120–140 cm, 140–160 cm)
at harvest in 2015–2017.
Treatment Soil profile (cm)

0–20 20–40 40–60 60–80 80–100 100–120 120–140 140–160 0–160

2015–2016
S1M0 10.8ab 8.0cd 8.7d 15.5b 20.7abc 22.5abc 26.9abc 30.7abc 18.0bc
S1M1 9.1b 7.8d 9.5d 14.5b 18.1c 19.1c 26.3abc 30.5abc 16.8c
S2M0 11.0ab 8.4bcd 11.0cd 14.1b 18.8bc 20.0c 26.2abc 30.9abc 17.4c
S2M1 9.2b 7.8d 9.4d 14.2b 18.2c 18.9c 24.2c 29.8bc 16.7c
S3M0 12.8a 15.8a 16.6ab 20.9a 25.0a 25.5ab 28.3abc 31.8ab 22.2a
S3M1 11.5ab 14.0a 14.7ab 18.7ab 23.4ab 25.9ab 29.7a 32.1ab 21.2ab

2016–2017
S1M0 11.0ab 8.5bcd 9.9d 15.3b 19.0bc 19.6c 25.7abc 28.1bc 17.1c
S1M1 11.4ab 8.7bcd 10.6cd 15.5b 19.4bc 18.9c 24.3bc 26.8c 16.9c
S2M0 10.6ab 10.7bc 13.6bc 18.4ab 20.0bc 21.6bc 27.7abc 30.3abc 19.1abc
S2M1 11.9a 9.2bcd 10.7cd 17.3ab 22.4abc 22.9abc 27.0abc 29.4bc 18.9abc
S3M0 10.6ab 11.2b 17.4a 22.3a 25.2a 26.8a 29.4ab 31.7ab 21.8a
S3M1 12.0a 11.1b 17.6a 21.4a 24.9a 26.6a 29.7a 34.0a 22.2a

Within each column, different letters indicate significant differences at p = 0.05, based on the LSD test.

2.3.4. Statistical analysis 5% level. The significance of the treatment effects was determined
Data were analyzed using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to de- using F-test, and LSD was performed using IBM SPSS 22.
termine differences between treatments. Differences among mean va-
lues were calculated using the least significance difference (LSD) at the

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M. Zhang et al.
3. Results
3.1. Soil moisture change in the treatments
In the 0–10 cm and the 10–20 cm soil layers, the soil moisture was
significantly higher in M1 treatments than in M0 treatments during the
wheat seedling stage (Fig. 3). At 46 days after sowing, the soil moisture
in the 0–10 cm soil layer in M1 was 45.3%, 37.4%, and 39.0% higher
than that in M0 under the S1, S2, and S3 conditions, respectively, and
the soil moisture in the 10–20 cm soil layer in M1 was 22.2%, 20.4%,
and 12.0% higher than that in M0 under the same salinity conditions.
Under M0, the soil moisture in the 0–10 cm soil layer was lower than
that in the 10–20 cm soil layer; however, under M1, the soil moisture in
the 0–10 cm soil layer was higher than that in the 10–20 cm soil layer.
In addition, within 11 days after sowing, the soil moisture in the
0–10 cm soil layer was increased under M1 by 6.9%, 10.0%, and 10.5%
over the initial moisture levels under the S1, S2, and S3 conditions,
respectively.
At harvest, the moisture content of most soil layers was lower in M1
than in M0, but no significant difference in soil moisture was found
between M0 and M1 (Table 2).
3.2. Soil salinity change in the treatments
Compared with M0, the soil salinity of the 0–100 cm soil profile in
M1 was reduced, especially under the S2 and S3 conditions (Fig. 4). As
the number of growing days and the soil salinity level increased, the
effect of M1 on soil salt content reduction became more significant. The
soil salt content in the 0–100 cm soil profile at harvest in M1 was 34.5%
and 91.6% lower than that in M0 under the S2 and S3 conditions during
the 2015–2016 growing season, and soil salt content under these con-
ditions was reduced by 27.0% and 17.0%, respectively, during the
2016–2017 growing season.
Fig. 4. Soil salt content in the 0–100 cm soil profile under M0 (no-mulch) and
M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments for three soil salinity levels (S1: 1‰
soil salinity; S2: 2‰ soil salinity; S3: 3‰ soil salinity) in 2015–2016 (A) and
2016–2017 (B).
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Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140
The average salinity of soil in different soil layers (0–20 cm,
20–60 cm, and 60–100 cm) at harvest is shown in Fig. 5. The soil salt
content reduction in M1 occurred mainly in the 0–20 cm and 20–60 cm
soil profiles, especially in the 0–20 cm soil layer. The soil salt content in
the 0–20 cm soil layer was 32.2% and 73.7% lower under M1 than
under M0 for the S2 and S3 conditions during the 2015–2016 growing
season, and it was 39.4% and 45.8% lower under M1 than under M0 for
these conditions during 2016–2017.
3.3. Winter wheat growth and yield
Spike number, grain number per spike, aboveground biomass, and
grain yield of winter wheat significantly increased when sub-soil plastic
film mulch was used (Table 3). Compared with M0, the average grain
yield of the two growing seasons in M1 was improved by 30.4%, 38.4%,
and 104.7% for the S1, S2, and S3 conditions, respectively. The
aboveground biomass increased by 31.3%, 36.4%, and 93.2%; the spike
number was promoted by 16.9%, 26.5%, and 71.9%; and the grain
number per spike was increased by 11.7%, 9.9%, and 18.7% for these
conditions. M1 had no significant effect on the 1000-grain weight and
HI.
3.4. Water consumption and water use efficiency
The evapotranspiration (ET) of the wheat field was decreased in M1
before wheat plant recovery, and it was increased from the recovery to
the maturity stage (Fig. 6). Consequently, the total ET during the
growing season was not significantly affected by the sub-soil plastic film
mulch, except for S3 in 2015–2016, which was considered a normal
year, not a drought year (Fig. 6).
Compared with M0, soil evaporation (E) and the E/ET ratio during
different growing stages in M1 were reduced, and M1 promoted tran-
spiration (T) of wheat plants especially during recovery to maturity
(Table 4). Averaged over the two years, the total E for the whole
growing season was reduced by 27.3 mm in M1 compared with M0, and
T was increased by 34.1 mm in M1 compared with M0. The E/ET ratio,
averaged over the two years, was reduced from 35.4% in M0 to 25.3%
in M1.
Daily soil evaporation during the seedling stage was 50.2%, 62.6%,
and 54.9% lower in M1 than in M0 for the S1, S2, and S3 conditions,
respectively (Fig. 7). During the whole growing season of 2016–2017,
under the S1 condition, daily soil evaporation was 0.1 mm (25.0%)
lower in M1 than in M0, and the accumulative evaporation was reduced
by 27.0% in M1 compared with M0 (Fig. 8).
Compared with M0, significantly higher WUEy and WUEbm were
obtained in M1 under each soil salinity condition (Table 5). Moreover,
with the increased soil salinity levels, the inhibition effect of decrease in
WUEy and WUEbm by M1 treatment was more significant. In
2015–2016, WUEy was increased by 26.4%, 29.1%, and 98.3% by
mulching for S1, S2, and S3 than that by no-mulch, and in 2016–2017,
it was increased by 33.8%, 54.3%, and 95.6%, respectively.
3.5. Combined effects of mulching and salinity on yield and WUEy
In order to quantify the interaction between mulching and salinity
on yield and WUEy visually, we obtained mathematical regression
models that specified the relationship between a dependent yield (Y, kg
ha−1) and soil salinity (x, g kg−1) under M0 and M1 conditions (Fig. 9).
According to these models, the yield differences between M0 and M1
(YM1-M0, kg ha−1) showed the following relationships to soil salinity (x,
g kg−1):
In 2015–2016: YM1-M0 = 890.8x+867.4 (5)
In 2016–2017: YM1-M0 = 246.3x+1063.7 (6)
Similarly, the relationships between the dependent WUEy
M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

Fig. 5. The average soil salt content in the 0–20 cm, 20–60 cm, and 60–100 cm soil profiles under M0 (no-mulch) and M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments for
three soil salinity levels (S1: 1‰ soil salinity; S2: 2‰ soil salinity; S3: 3‰ soil salinity) in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017.

Table 3 winter wheat in M1 was 1180.8 kg ha−1 and 1620.4 kg ha−1 in

Effects of different treatments on spike number (SN), 1000-grain weight (GW), 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, respectively, 890.8 kg ha−1 and 246.3 kg
grain number per spike (GN), yield, aboveground biomass, and harvest index ha−1 lower than M0. With an increase of 1 g kg−1 in soil salinity, the
(HI) during two growing seasons. WUEy losses of winter wheat in M1 were 3.8 kg ha−1 mm−1 and 2.9 kg
Treatment SN (m−2) GW (g) GN Yield (kg Biomass (kg HI ha−1 mm−1 less than that in M0.
ha−1) ha−1)

2015–2016
4. Discussion
S1M0 486.8bc 49.3a 23.2abc 5547.5bc 11632.6c 0.48a
S1M1 609.9a 49.1a 25.2a 7531.2a 15525.2a 0.49a In the study sites, winter wheat suffered from both drought and
S2M0 484.2c 49.4a 22.4abc 5278.4bc 11535.9c 0.46a salinity. To increase yield in dryland saline soils in Asia, it is important
S2M1 595.2a 48.8a 24.4ab 7094.1a 15027.6ab 0.47a
not only to reduce salt damage but also to use the region’s limited
S3M0 251.4d 48.7a 19.9d 2524.4e 5351.8e 0.46a
S3M1 485.0bc 49.1a 24.4abc 5738.9bc 11801.9c 0.49a precipitation and soil water more efficiently. Our field observations
2016–2017 showed that soil salinity and soil evaporation were lower in the mul-
S1M0 543.6ab 45.7b 19.2de 4844.3c 12142.7c 0.40b ched plots than in the no-mulch plots. The lower salinity and higher
S1M1 594.3a 45.7b 22.2bc 6018.7bc 15682.5a 0.38b water content in the topsoil layer under sub-soil plastic film mulch
S2M0 426.6c 45.9b 19.4de 3787.7d 9689.0d 0.39b
S2M1 557.2ab 46.3b 21.5cd 5457.9bc 14206.4b 0.38b
promoted winter wheat growth, leading to better water use efficiency
S3M0 278.7d 42.9c 17.1e 2018.1e 5174.7e 0.39b and higher grain yield than in no-mulch plots. Xie et al. (2005) and Du
S3M1 426.1c 42.0c 19.6d 3558.4d 9160.5d 0.40b et al. (2016) also showed that plastic mulch greatly improved grain
yield and water use efficiency of wheat. Averaged over the two years,
Within each column, different letters indicate significant differences at p = winter wheat yield and WUEy in the present study were 30.4% and
0.05, based on the LSD test.
27.6%, 38.4% and 40.4%, and 104.7% and 96.6% greater under M1
than M0 for the S1, S2, and S3 conditions, respectively. As soil salinity
differences (WUEyM1-M0, kg ha−1 mm−1) and soil salinity (x, g kg−1) increased, the decline in winter wheat grain yield and water use effi-
were obtained (Fig. 9), showing that: ciency under M1 was gentle than M0. Yields of the second year were
In 2015–2016: WUEyM1-M0 = 3.8x+0.5 (7) lower than the previous year. It may be caused by ET and weather
conditions. In this study, yield was positively related to ET (R2 = 0.791,
In 2016–2017: WUEyM1-M0 = 2.9x+3.0 (8) p < 0.01). In addition, the lower yield in 2016–2017 was mainly
Our results indicated that the differences in yield and WUEy be- caused by the lower 1000-grain weight and grain number per spike
tween M1 and M0 showed larger trends with increasing soil salinity. (Table 3). Previous studies have indicated that high temperature and
Thus, with an increase of 1 g kg−1 in soil salinity, the yield loss of drought at the flowering stage play a negative role in determining
1000-grain weight, and that cool weather and rain in May can prolong

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M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

Fig. 6. Stage evapotranspiration of winter wheat under M0 (no-mulch) and M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments for three soil salinity levels (S1: 1‰ soil
salinity; S2: 2‰ soil salinity; S3: 3‰ soil salinity) in 2015–2016 (A) and 2016–2017 (B).

the period of spikelet formation, thereby enhancing in grain number per
spike (Shah and Paulsen, 2003; Chmielewski and Kohn, 1999). In the
present study, the temperature and precipitation in May of 2016–2017
was 2.1 °C higher and 11.9 mm lower than that in 2015–2016 (Fig. 1),
which may be the cause of the decreased 1000-grain weight and grain
number per spike in 2016–2017.
A previous study reported that mulch practices modified soil tem-
perature conditions, potentially improving yields in dryland agriculture
(Chen et al., 2017). Similar to Chen et al. (2017), our result also showed
that sub-soil plastic film mulch could improve soil temperature
(Table 6). The M1 treatment could improve the soil temperature around
the 15-cm depth, benefiting plants at the seedling, wintering, and re-
covery stages, thereby helping to increase the emergence ratio and
capacity for tillering before winter. Sub-soil plastic film mulch in-
creased the wheat emergence rate, and this influence became more
remarkable as the soil salinity level increased (Table 7). Compared with
M0, the emergence rate in S3 was increased by 21.1–32.3 percentage
points.
Like Zhao et al. (2016), we found that sub-soil plastic film mulch
effectively relieved the drought stress that occurs at sowing and in the
earlier stages of winter wheat growth (Fig. 3). We expected that sub-soil
plastic film mulch would retain more soil water throughout the season.
However, possibly due to increased plant growth and higher plant
transpiration rates during the later growth stages (Li et al., 2013), at
harvest time there was no significant difference between the soil
moisture in M1 and M0 at all levels of soil from 0 to 160 cm (Table 2).
Nevertheless, sub-soil plastic film mulch significantly increased soil
moisture within 10 days after sowing in the top 10 cm of soil (Fig. 3),
which would improve the emergence rate in dryland areas (Table 7).
The distribution of soil salt during the driest period clearly de-
monstrates the ability of different treatments to control soil salinity
(Scotter and Raats, 1970). Similarly, soil salinity dynamics during the
winter wheat growing season reflect the ability of sub-soil plastic film
mulch to lower soil salinity under rain-fed conditions. During the
growing season, soil salinity changes a considerable amount, due to
high levels of both soil evaporation and crop transpiration. Reducing
salt in the root zone is critical to increasing the grain yield in saline soil
(Zhao et al., 2016). In the present experiment, the average soil salinity
from 0 to 100 cm under the mulch treatment was lower than under the
no-mulch treatment (Fig. 4), primarily because mulch prevented salt
from accumulating in the upper 20 cm of soil (Fig. 5). Moisture content
was higher in the topsoil layer (Fig. 3), which was shown in a previous

Table 4
Changes in the ratio of evaporation to evapotranspiration for winter wheat under M0 (no-mulch) and M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments in 1‰ soil salinity
at different growth stages in 2015–2017.
Sowing–Wintering Wintering–Recovery Recovery–Jointing Jointing–Anthesis Anthesis–Maturity Total

M0 M1 M0 M1 M0 M1 M0 M1 M0 M1 M0 M1

2015-2016
ET (mm) 29.9 21.4 42.8 38.4 62.6 72.2 77.6 101.0 92.7 95.1 305.6 328.1
E (mm) 16.0 11.0 35.1 27.3 11.4 8.7 15.7 14.4 33.6 21.3 111.8 82.7
T (mm) 13.8 10.4 7.7 11.1 51.2 63.4 62.0 86.7 59.1 73.8 193.8 245.4
E/ET (%) 53.7 51.4 81.9 71.2 18.2 12.1 20.2 14.2 36.3 22.4 36.6 25.2
2016-2017
ET (mm) 67.3 50.5 22.8 18.3 46.7 51.8 41.6 45.4 82.1 85.5 260.5 251.5
E (mm) 36.4 23.5 18.5 13.8 15.2 11.3 5.9 4.9 13.5 10.4 89.4 63.8
T (mm) 30.9 27.1 4.3 4.5 31.5 40.5 35.7 40.5 68.7 75.1 171.1 187.7
E/ET (%) 54.1 46.4 81.1 75.5 32.5 21.8 14.1 10.7 16.4 12.1 34.3 25.4

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M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

Fig. 7. Daily soil evaporation under M0 (no-mulch) and M1 (sub-soil plastic film mulch) treatments for three soil salinity levels (S1: 1‰ soil salinity; S2: 2‰ soil
salinity; S3: 3‰ soil salinity) during the seedling stage of winter wheat in 2015–2016.

study to enhance salt leaching efficiency, facilitate ion exchange and Table 5
absorption, and increase total dissolved salts (Feng et al., 2000; Zhang Water use efficiency of winter wheat at the grain yield level (WUEy) and at the
et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2016). Other studies conducted in saline soils biomass level (WUEbm) for different treatments during two growing seasons.
also reported that mulch could prevent the movement and accumula- Treatment WUEy (kg ha−1 mm−1) WUEbm (kg ha−1 mm−1)
tion of salts from the subsoil to the topsoil (Wang et al., 2012a; Zhao
et al., 2016). Mulching effectively creates a desalinated layer that is 2015–2016
S1M0 18.2de 38.1d
beneficial to plants. The sub-soil plastic film mulch also decreased
S1M1 23.0ab 47.3bc
salinity compared with the no-mulch treatment in the 0–20 cm soil S2M0 17.4ef 38.0d
layer. The lower soil salinity in the topsoil layer under sub-soil plastic S2M1 22.5ab 47.6bc
film mulch translates to lower salt stress on crops at emergence and S3M0 10.4g 22.1e
during the early growth period. In addition, the higher the soil salinity, S3M1 20.7bc 42.5cd
2016–2017
the stronger the inhibition of shallow soil salt under the mulch treat-
S1M0 18.6cde 46.6bc
ment. S1M1 23.9a 62.4a
In a rain-fed crop, more efficient use of soil water helps to sustain S2M0 15.4f 39.3d
agricultural yields. Retaining water rather than losing it through eva- S2M1 23.3a 60.6a
S3M0 10.2g 26.1e
poration also reduces the salt concentration in the topsoil (Zhao et al.,
S3M1 19.9cd 51.1b
2016). In the present study, there was no statistically significant dif-
ference in evapotranspiration between sub-soil plastic mulch treat- Within each column, different letters indicate significant differences at p =
ments and no-mulch treatments under the same soil salinity except for 0.05, based on the LSD test.
the S3 condition in 2015–2016 (Fig. 6). However, mulching did affect
the relationship between soil evaporation and transpiration. The use of from the soil surface to the air (Li et al., 2013) and slightly improves
sub-soil plastic mulch greatly reduced the ratio of evaporation to eva- topsoil moisture through condensation of water vapor on the lower
potranspiration (Table 4). Indeed, one previous study estimated that the surface of the plastic film (Hou et al., 2014). Salt moves along with the
E/ET ratio could be as low as 0.06 in fields with plastic mulch, com- water, so the lower evaporation contributes to the lower salt con-
pared with 0.32 in no-mulch fields (Li et al., 2013). In the present ex- centration in the topsoil. In addition, the reduction in soil evaporation
periment, soil evaporation was 27.3% lower in the mulch treatment under mulching enables more of the available water to be used by crops
than in no-mulch treatment. A large amount of soil water loss still oc- for transpiration, thus supporting better crop growth (Daryanto et al.,
curred through evaporation under the sub-soil plastic film mulch 2017). The plastic film mulch also promotes the development of winter
treatment (82.7 mm in 2015–2016 and 63.8 mm in 2016–2017). Some wheat by improving the soil’s water absorption capacity (Niu et al.,
soil water might have evaporated through holes in the film and from 2004). Plant uptake of water from the soil might reduce water loss
the soil above the plastic film. In addition, the plant population and through evaporation (Li et al., 2013). Furthermore, the reduction in
therefore the shade-casting ability of winter wheat was low under rain- evaporation and the increase in transpiration in the mulch treatment
fed conditions, further increasing soil evaporation. Nevertheless, the E/ results in an increase in plant growth and a rapid expansion of the crop
ET of the mulch treatment was still 28.5% lower than that of the no- canopy (Li et al., 2013).
mulch treatment averaged over the two years. The mulch treatment clearly promoted winter wheat growth, as
It has been known for a long time that film mulches prevent soil indicated by the higher aboveground biomass, grain yield, and water
evaporation (Unger, 1975). The plastic film blocks water from moving use efficiency relative to the no-mulch treatment (Table 3, Table 5).

Fig. 8. Daily and accumulative soil evaporation under no-mulch (M0) and sub-soil plastic film mulch (M1) treatment for 1‰ soil salinity during the winter wheat
growing season, 2016–2017.

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M. Zhang et al. Field Crops Research 225 (2018) 130–140

Fig. 9. The relationships between yield and soil salinity, water use efficiency at yield level (WUEy) and soil salinity under no-mulch (M0) and sub-soil plastic film
mulch (M1) treatment, in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017.

Improvements in grain yield can be achieved by increasing biomass and Table 7

maintaining a similar HI (Fischer, 2011), by increasing HI and main- Emergence rate of winter wheat in during two growing seasons.
taining a similar biomass (Lu et al., 2015), or by increasing both bio- Treatment Emergence rate(%)
mass and HI (Shearman et al., 2005). Our data showed that during both
years, the mulch treatment induced more biomass production with a 2015-2016 2016-2017
similar HI (Table 3), so an increase in biomass appears to be the key to
S1M0 92.3a 91.7a
improving grain yield through mulching. Mulching resulted in a higher S1M1 93.3a 92.4a
WUEbm and WUEy compared with no-mulch. It is possible to improve S2M0 90.0a 74.9bc
WUE by altering the balance between soil evaporation and crop tran- S2M1 90.8a 90.4a
spiration under water-limited conditions (Cooper et al., 1987; Xie et al., S3M0 47.5b 63.6c
S3M1 89.8a 84.7ab
2005). The lower ratio of evaporation to evapotranspiration that we
noted under the mulch treatment also explains how a sub-soil plastic
film mulch could promote higher WUE of winter wheat.
5. Conclusions

Our two-year field experiment in the saline soils of the Bohai

Lowland Plain, China, showed that sub-soil plastic film mulch

Table 6
Soil temperature in the 15-cm soil profile during the winter wheat growing season, 2015–2017.
Treatment Temperature (℃)

Seedling Wintering Recovery Jointing Heading Anthesis Filling

2015–2016
S1M0 13.5 −0.5 1.3 8.5 12.4 16.5 17.7
S1M1 14.5 0.5 3.0 10.0 12.8 16.6 17.6
S2M0 14.0 −0.5 2.0 9.0 12.5 16.0 17.9
S2M1 15.0 0.0 2.5 10.0 13.2 17.0 17.9
S3M0 14.5 −0.5 2.0 9.5 12.7 16.3 17.6
S3M1 15.0 −0.2 2.4 10.0 13.0 16.7 18.1
2016–2017
S1M0 6.5 0.8 3.0 10.5 12.0 15.5 18.6
S1M1 7.6 −0.6 4.0 10.3 11.5 14.7 17.5
S2M0 6.9 −0.5 3.4 11.0 12.5 16.0 20.0
S2M1 7.8 0.3 4.5 11.2 12.5 16.2 19.0
S3M0 7.2 −0.8 4.0 10.7 13.0 16.7 19.5
S3M1 7.6 −0.1 4.3 11.2 12.5 16.0 19.0

138
M. Zhang et al.
significantly improved upper soil moisture, decreased soil salinity, and
promoted water utilization by winter wheat. The mulch considerably
increased the soil water content of the topsoil layer (0–20 cm) at the
seedling stage. Throughout the two growing seasons, mulching sig-
nificantly decreased the salinity of the 0–100 cm soil profile, especially
in the top 20 cm of soil. As the soil salinity level increased, the in-
hibiting effect of mulch on upper soil salt became more significant. In
addition, mulching produced higher aboveground biomass, which
translated to a higher grain yield. Higher transpiration in the crop and a
lower level of soil evaporation were associated with higher WUE. Over
the two years, the highest winter wheat yield and WUE values were
always obtained from the mulched plots under each soil salinity con-
dition. Mulch had a stronger effect on reducing loss of yield and WUE as
the soil salinity level increased. Accordingly, sub-soil plastic film mulch
may be considered an effective field-management option to improve
winter wheat yield and WUE in saline soils in dryland areas.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Key Technologies
Research and Development Program of China (2013BAD05B02), the
National Key Research and Development Program of China
(2016YFD0300808), the Science and Technology Service Network
Initiative of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KFJ-STS-ZDTP-001), and the
Hebei Key Research and Development Program (18226419D and
17227006D).
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