An Opportunity for Regenerative Rice Production: Combining Plastic Film Cover and Plant Biomass Mulch with No-Till Soil Management to Build Soil Carbon, Curb Nitrogen Pollution, and Maintain High-Stable Yield

Abstract

China has attained rice sufficiency with the increased use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer, but this has led to serious N pollution. China has the world’s highest use of N with the lowest N use efficiency (NUE). Including livestock production, China’s agriculture sector has surpassed industry as the greatest polluter of water. Using plastic film on raised-beds, combined with improved agronomic practices, can boost rice yield by 50% with 36% less N fertilizer use, 30% higher NUE, and stabilized the yield of 9.75 t ha−1. It also counters the effects of drought and low ambient temperature. A six-year study was conducted combining no-tillage, crop-residue mulch, and plastic cover, alternating organic rice and rapeseed production. All the treatments, fertilized with biogas slurry and rapeseed meal, gave rice yields of 7.0 to 10.7 t ha−1, well above China’s average of 6.5 t ha−1. In this time, soil organic matter increased from 1.6% to 4.2%. In the first four years, the combination of crop-residue mulch with plastic cover had a slightly higher yield than mulch alone. In the fifth and sixth years, the latter treatment surpassed the use of plastic cover with crop-residue mulch. Trials with a biodegradable film show that plastic pollution can be dealt with.

Keywords

• conservation agriculture
• no tillage
• residue return
• plastic cover
• biodegradable plastic film
• sustainable crop intensification
• rice cropping system
• soil organic carbon
• system of rice intensification
• china