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Effects of plastic-hole mulching on effective rainfall and readily available soil moisture under soybean (Glycine max) cultivation

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Abstract

Plasticulture is becoming popular to control soil temperature and increase water-use efficiency in rain-fed agriculture. Non-perforated plastic mulching reduces effective rainfall by preventing infiltration, while perforated plastic mulching (plastic-hole mulching) increases effective rainfall by enhancing infiltration; both mulching control soil temperature. The comparative performance of these mulching is not, however, well investigated yet. So, a field experiment was conducted by cultivating soybean (Glycine max) under non-perforated plastic mulching (hereafter denoted by P), plastic-hole mulching (hereafter denoted by PH) and bare soil to investigate soil temperature, effective rainfall, total readily available soil moisture (TRAM), soil-moisture extraction pattern (SMEP) and yield of soybean. The mulching treatments reduced soil temperature by 2 °C at 5 cm depth compared to the bare treatment and created a favorable environment for soybean growth under high air temperature during summer in Japan. The PH treatment increased effective rainfall by as much as 9% of total rainfall compared to the P treatment. The SMEP in the 0- to 30-cm soil profile revealed that soil moisture was consumed, mostly, from the upper soil layer in the bare treatment, while in the P and PH treatments, soil-moisture consumption occurred both from the upper and from the lower soil layers. Consequently, the P and PH treatments provided greater TRAM (57.3 and 54.0 mm) than the bare treatment (48.0 mm), indicating that mulching contributed increasing soil-moisture availability in the root zone. The mulching treatments augmented plant height, number of nodulations per plant, and seed and biomass yields; the PH treatment produced the maximum seed yield.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank the River Basin Research Centre of Gifu University and the Kubota Fund for providing financial support during the Master’s program of the first author in Japan

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rural Development Academy (RDA), Bogra, 5842, Bangladesh

    M. A. Kader

  2. Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu City, 501-1112, Japan

    Masateru Senge, Takeo Onishi & Kengo Ito

  3. Department of Irrigation and Water Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh

    M. A. Mojid

Authors
  1. M. A. Kader
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  2. Masateru Senge
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  3. M. A. Mojid
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  4. Takeo Onishi
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Correspondence to Masateru Senge.

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Kader, M.A., Senge, M., Mojid, M.A. et al. Effects of plastic-hole mulching on effective rainfall and readily available soil moisture under soybean (Glycine max) cultivation. Paddy Water Environ 15, 659–668 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-017-0585-z

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