Improving Cotton Yield in Coastal Saline-alkali Soils Using Mulching and Ridge-furrow Cultivation

Abstract

【Objective】 Along with drought, soil salinity is a main abiotic factor limiting crop growth worldwide. Improving cultivation to alleviate salinity stress is an alternative method to safeguard agricultural production in saline soils. The aim of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of using ridge-furrow cultivation coupled with mulching to ameliorate the impact of salinity and improve cotton yield in coastal saline-alkali soils in China. 【Method】 A two-year experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2015 in a field, with conventional tillage coupled with mulching taken as the control (CK). In each treatment, we measured spatial distributions of soil water and salt, as well as seedling rate, seedling growth, root surface area, cotton yield, and yield traits. 【Result】 Mulching coupled with ridge-furrow cultivation (RF) increased soil moisture and reduced soil salinity simultaneously at significant level, thereby promoting root surface area and cotton yield, in comparison with CK. During the growth season, water content and electrical conductivity in the soil beneath the mulch in CK was 2.67% higher and 27.78% lower, respectively, than that in the soil outside the mulch. In contrast, the water content and electrical conductivity beneath the mulch in RF was 15.92% higher and 34.57% lower, respectively, than that in the soil outside the mulch. Compared with CK in the two years, RF increased root surface areas by 35.9%, seedling rate by 8.3% and 56.6%, the number of bolls per plant by 33.9% and 63.4%, cotton seed yield by 37.0% and 196.4%, respectively. 【Conclusion】 Ridge-furrow cultivation coupled with mulching increased soil water and reduced salt content in the root zones because it re-directed water flow in the soil. This boosted the growth of cotton seedlings and roots, increasing its yield as a result.

Keywords

• coastal saline-alkali soil
• cotton
• ridge-furrow cultivation
• soil water-salt distribution