Table 4.

Effect of mulching methods on root absorption area, active absorption area, and root volume at soil layer 0–60 cm for 2022 and 2023 maize growth stages (VT and R6).

Year	Soil Layer	Treatment	VT			R6
			Root Absorption Area (m2 plant − 1)	Active Absorption Area (m2 plant − 1)	Root Volume (mL plant − 1)	Root Absorption Area (m2 plant − 1)	Active Absorption Area (m2 plant − 1)	Root Volume (mL plant − 1)
2022	0–20 cm	FSS	59.80a	29.98a	63a	47.44a	24.82a	57a
		UPM	61.79a	27.24a	44.6b	40.37b	21.18b	42.6b
		CK	47.88b	20.84b	32.7c	33.87c	17.88c	34c
	20–40 cm	FSS	12.14a	9.54a	13.9a	7.03a	3.11a	8.6a
		UPM	8.38b	7.28b	8.7b	5.91b	2.35b	5.1b
		CK	4.25c	3.15c	6.3c	3.41c	1.67c	3.6c
	40–60 cm	FSS	2.64a	2.04a	5.5a	3.89a	2.64a	6.1a
		UPM	2.30b	1.95b	3.4a	2.61b	1.96b	4.23b
		CK	1.27c	1.12c	2.2b	1.58c	1.51c	2.5c
2023	0–20 cm	FSS	66.19a	33.69a	62.3a	48.94a	22.51a	57a
		UPM	65.06b	32.44b	51b	45.03b	20.14b	46.7b
		CK	51.97c	25.07c	41.3c	28.78c	17.18c	27.3c
	20–40 cm	FSS	16.81a	8.66a	11.3a	5.74a	3.58a	9.8a
		UPM	16.26a	8.51a	7.9b	5.09b	2.39b	7.7b
		CK	10.74b	4.91c	4.6c	2.35c	1.54c	5.2c
	40–60 cm	FSS	4.41a	3.16a	5.5a	5.09a	2.57a	6.3a
		UPM	4.24b	2.14b	3.5b	3.41b	2.04b	4.8b
		CK	2.13c	1.54c	1.9c	2.55c	1.62c	1.9c
Year			**	*	*	ns	*	ns
Soil Layer			**	**	*	*	**	**
Treatment			**	**	**	**	**	**
Year × Soil Layer			**	ns	*	*	**	*
Year × Treatment			*	ns	ns	*	ns	*
Soil Layer × Treatment			**	**	*	**	**	*

VT, tasseling stage; R6, physiological maturity stage. Means with different letters in the same column are significantly different at P < 0.05… NS: not significant; * significant at the 0.05 probability level; ** significant at the 0.01 probability level.