Effect of water control and plastic-film mulch on growth in spring wheat populations

Various researches have been conducted to study the effect of water control and plastic-film mulch on growth in spring wheat populations. Field experiments were conducted at the experimental station of Lanzhou University, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China. A 0.007 mm thick, clear, high density plastic film was placed over the soil surface before planting for plastic-film mulch and the experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block design. The results show that the plastic-film mulching was effective in increasing biomass yield of spring wheat and the increase in grain yield in mulched treatments resulted from increased biomass yield. Both plastic-film mulching and irrigation were effective in promoting the occurrence and growth of tillers in spring wheat populations. The plastic-film mulching also resulted an increase in the number and weight of sterile tillers.