Abstract
Plastic residual film pollution in China is severe, and the use of degradable mulch film instead of plastic mulch can effectively alleviate this situation. The substitution of common polyethylene plastic mulch film with biodegradable mulch film in the agricultural production of cotton and maize in an arid region was investigated in the present study. Using bare soil as the control, we compared the effects of common polyethylene plastic film and biodegradable mulch film on crop growth, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) in maize and cotton. The results indicated that: (1) the biodegradable mulch film in this region remained intact for 60 days after being laid down, significantly degrading after 120 days, and was associated with increased soil temperature, moisture conservation, and degradability in comparison to a bare soil control; (2) Both the biodegradable mulch film and the polyethylene plastic film significantly increased various physiological parameters, such as crop height, stalk diameter, and leaf area; (3) The biodegradable mulch film had a significant effect on crop yield by 69.4–76.2% and 65.2–71.9%, respectively, compared to the bare soil control. (4) Compared to the bare soil control, the biodegradable mulch film effectively increased WUE in the crops by 64.5–73.1%. In summary, biodegradable mulch film had comparable results to the common polyethylene plastic film in increasing crop growth, yield, and WUE. As the biodegradable mulch film causes no residual pollution, it is thus preferable to common plastic mulch film for agricultural applications in arid regions and supports the sustainable development of agroecosystems. Therefore, the use of degradable mulch films in agricultural production is more environmentally friendly and more conducive to the sustainable development of agricultural systems.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable mulch remained intact for 60 days and degraded significantly after 120 days.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“the biodegradable mulch film in this region remained intact for 60 days after being laid down, significantly degrading after 120 days”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable mulch raised soil temperature and conserved moisture compared with bare soil.
- Taxon
- cotton
Gossypium hirsutume0t0t1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“was associated with increased soil temperature, moisture conservation, and degradability in comparison to a bare soil control”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Both films increased crop height, stalk diameter and leaf area.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Both the biodegradable mulch film and the polyethylene plastic film significantly increased various physiological parameters, such as crop height, stalk diameter, and leaf area”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable mulch increased crop yield by the first reported range compared with bare soil.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0t0t1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The biodegradable mulch film had a significant effect on crop yield by 69.4–76.2% and 65.2–71.9%, respectively, compared to the bare soil control”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable mulch increased the second crop yield by 65.2–71.9% compared with bare soil.
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The biodegradable mulch film had a significant effect on crop yield by 69.4–76.2% and 65.2–71.9%, respectively, compared to the bare soil control”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable mulch increased crop water use efficiency by 64.5–73.1% against bare soil.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to the bare soil control, the biodegradable mulch film effectively increased WUE in the crops by 64.5–73.1%”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodegradable and polyethylene films yielded comparable crop growth, yield and water use efficiency.
Verbatim
e0“biodegradable mulch film had comparable results to the common polyethylene plastic film in increasing crop growth, yield, and WUE”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
Claim · model-written summary
Authors prefer biodegradable film for arid agriculture because it leaves no residual pollution.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutume0t0t1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“As the biodegradable mulch film causes no residual pollution, it is thus preferable to common plastic mulch film for agricultural applications in arid regions”
t0“Cotton and Maize”
t1“Biodegradable Mulch Film”
The same questions in other papers
mulching · soil: physics · Gossypium hirsutum (cotton)Positive and negative results
11 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- positive
10 papers more in this group
See all 14 papers →mulching · yield · Gossypium hirsutum (cotton)Positive and negative results
58 papers in the same direction as this paper · 4 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- no effect
59 papers more in this group
See all 63 papers →mulching · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
329 papers in the same direction as this paper · 31 in the opposite direction · 3 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- positive
- negative
360 papers more in this group
See all 364 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.