Abstract
Purpose
Environmentally friendly mulching material and appropriate tillage practice are needed to solve plastic film residues in agricultural production in ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting technology (RFRHT) in the Loess Plateau in China.
Materials and methods
A field experiment in randomized block design was conducted to (1) investigate the runoff coefficient for three ridge widths (30, 45, and 60 cm) using three ridge mulching materials (ridges compacted with soil (RCS), maize straw biochar-soil mixture (SBM), and cow dung biochar-soil mixture (DBM)); (2) the effects of three ridge widths using three ridge mulching materials on soil moisture, temperature, nutrients, fodder yield, quality, and water use efficiency (WUE) of sainfoin and conventional flat planting (FP) as a control, during two consecutive sainfoin-growing years: 2017 and 2018.
Results
The predicted runoff coefficient for RCS30, RCS45, RCS60, SBM30, SBM45, SBM60, DBM30, DBM45, and DBM60 (subscripts 30, 45, and 60 referred to ridge widths) was 0.31, 0.33, 0.34, 0.26, 0.30, 0.31, 0.22, 0.24, and 0.25, respectively, over 2 years. DBM had a higher concentration of total nitrogen and organic matter compared to SBM, while SBM had a higher concentration of Olsen phosphorus and available potassium compared to DBM. The higher runoff coefficient and soil moisture in SBM led to higher fodder yield, WUE, and condensed tannin content of sainfoin, compared to DBM. Compared to FP, in RCS, fodder yield and WUE of sainfoin decreased by 8.8–17.8% and 0.6–2.6 kg ha−1 mm−1, respectively. Condensed tannins concentration of sainfoin for RCS, SBM, and DBM increased by 4.1 −9.0%, 11.4 −21.8%, and 9.4 −15.2%, respectively. Fodder yield in SBM and DBM increased by 14.3 −19.5% and 7.1 −10.0%, respectively, while WUE in SBM and DBM increased by 6.7 −8.5 and 4.7 −5.5 kg ha−1 mm−1.
Conclusion
Ridges compacted with biochar-soil mixture, especially with maize straw biochar-soil mixture, increased fodder yield, WUE, and condensed tannin content of sainfoin. The optimum ridge width in SBM and DBM for sainfoin production was 46–49 and 41 cm, respectively.
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Data availability
The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- RFRHT:
-
Ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting technology
- RCS:
-
Ridges compacted with soil
- SBM:
-
Ridges compacted with maize straw biochar-soil mixture
- DBM:
-
Ridges compacted with cow dung biochar-soil mixture
- FP:
-
Conventional flat planting
- AFY:
-
Actual fodder yield
- ET:
-
Evapotranspiration
- WUE:
-
Water use efficiency
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The authors express their sincere thanks to Maureen M. Vance, ex-Manager Adult Reading Assistance Scheme, Christchurch, New Zealand, for improving the English in this paper.
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All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript for publication. Dengkui Zhang set up the experiment, conducted fieldwork and data analysis, and wrote and revised the manuscript. Xujiao Zhou assisted with fieldwork and manuscript revision. Wucheng Zhao, Xiaole Zhao, and Xiaoyun Wang sampled and analyzed data. Erastus Mak-Mensah assisted in editing the manuscript. Qi Wang and Qinglin Liu reviewed and revised the paper.
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Zhang, D., Wang, Q., Zhou, X. et al. Suitable biochar type and optimum ridge width for sainfoin production in ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting in the Loess Plateau in China. J Soils Sediments 23, 206–222 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03331-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03331-8