Abstract
Abstract Irrigated agriculture in arid and semi‐arid regions is a vital contributor to the global food supply. However, these regions endure massive evaporative losses that are compensated by exploiting limited freshwater resources. To increase water‐use efficiency in these giga‐scale operations, plastic mulches are utilized; however, their non‐biodegradability and eventual land‐filling renders them unsustainable. In response, we have developed superhydrophobic sand (SHS) mulching technology that is comprised of sand grains or sandy soils with a nanoscale coating of paraffin wax. Here, we investigate the effects of 1 cm‐thick SHS mulching on the evapotranspiration and phenotypic responses of tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) plants as a model system under normal and reduced irrigation inside controlled growth chambers. Experimental results reveal that under either irrigation scenario, SHS mulching suppresses evaporation and enhances transpiration by 78% and 17%, respectively relative to the unmulched soil. Comprehensive phenotyping revealed that SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter, stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content index by 21%, 25%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, in comparison with the unmulched soil. Consequently, total fruit yields, total dry mass, and harvest index increased in SHS‐mulched plants by 33%, 20%, and 16%, respectively compared with the unmulched soil. We also provide mechanistic insights into the effects of SHS mulching on plant physiological processes. These results underscore the potential of SHS for realizing food–water security and greening initiatives in arid regions.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching suppresses evaporation by 78% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- evaporatione0
- Direction
- suppressese0
- Value
- 78%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Experimental results reveal that under either irrigation scenario, SHS mulching suppresses evaporation and enhances transpiration by 78% and 17%, respectively relative to the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching enhances transpiration by 17% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- transpiratione0
- Direction
- enhancese0
- Value
- 17%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Experimental results reveal that under either irrigation scenario, SHS mulching suppresses evaporation and enhances transpiration by 78% and 17%, respectively relative to the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter by 21% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- root xylem vessel diametere0
- Direction
- enhancede0
- Value
- 21%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Comprehensive phenotyping revealed that SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter, stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content index by 21%, 25%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, in comparison with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching enhanced stomatal aperture by 25% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- stomatal aperturee0
- Direction
- enhancede0
- Value
- 25%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Comprehensive phenotyping revealed that SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter, stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content index by 21%, 25%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, in comparison with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching enhanced stomatal conductance by 28% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- stomatal conductancee0
- Direction
- enhancede0
- Value
- 28%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Comprehensive phenotyping revealed that SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter, stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content index by 21%, 25%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, in comparison with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching enhanced chlorophyll content index by 23% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS mulchinge0
- Outcome
- chlorophyll content indexe0
- Direction
- enhancede0
- Value
- 23%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Comprehensive phenotyping revealed that SHS mulching enhanced root xylem vessel diameter, stomatal aperture, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content index by 21%, 25%, 28%, and 23%, respectively, in comparison with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching increased total fruit yields by 33% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS‐mulched plantse0
- Outcome
- total fruit yieldse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 33%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Consequently, total fruit yields, total dry mass, and harvest index increased in SHS‐mulched plants by 33%, 20%, and 16%, respectively compared with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching increased total dry mass by 20% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS‐mulched plantse0
- Outcome
- total dry masse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 20%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Consequently, total fruit yields, total dry mass, and harvest index increased in SHS‐mulched plants by 33%, 20%, and 16%, respectively compared with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
Claim · model-written summary
SHS mulching increased harvest index by 16% relative to unmulched soil.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- SHS‐mulched plantse0
- Outcome
- harvest indexe0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 16%e0
- Comparator
- unmulched soile0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Consequently, total fruit yields, total dry mass, and harvest index increased in SHS‐mulched plants by 33%, 20%, and 16%, respectively compared with the unmulched soil.”
t0“tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants”
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