Effects of dual mulching of film and straw on soil moisture and apple yield in Weibei Region

To alleviate the problems of soil desiccation and the growth inhibition of apple roots by high soil temperature under summer mulching condition in apple orchards of Weibei region,film mulching was combined with straw mulching to preserve soil water and buffer high temperature.A comprehensive evaluation was conduced to evaluate four different dual mulching modes such as film over long wheat straw,long wheat straw over film,film over short wheat straw,and film over maize straw,with respect to the aspects of moisture conservation,temperature adjusting and mulching effects on apple yield.Results show mulching treatment of film over short wheat straw,compared with other treatments,increased annually averaged water storage by 1 529.2 mm and annually averaged water content by 25.71% in the 0~600 cm soil profile,which is beneficial to water utilization by fruit trees.The mulching treatment of film over short wheat straw increased soil temperature in spring and autumn but reduced soil temperature in summer,indicating a better effect ton buffering soil temperature.All these four mulching treatments showed improvement of apple yield,single fruit weight and optimal fruit rate.The mulching treatment of film over short wheat straw,having the highest single fruit weight(48 kg) and optimal fruit rate(85%),was the best dual mulching mode.