Table 4.
Effects of different mulch plots on the grain yield, biomass yield, harvest index (HI), evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency (WUE) of maize in 2013–2014 at the Dryland Agricultural Research Station, Pengyang County, China.
| Year | Treatments | Grain yield (kg ha−1) | Biomass yield (kg ha−1) | HI | ET (mm) | WUE (kg ha−1 mm−1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | FCM | 16200a | 24422ab | 0.67a | 522.02a | 31.09a |
| FLM | 12957c | 22769b | 0.57b | 509.66a | 25.42b | |
| FLSM | 15896a | 25271a | 0.63ab | 505.38a | 31.11a | |
| PM | 14976b | 25031ab | 0.60ab | 450.17b | 33.27a | |
| CK | 13470c | 23432ab | 0.58b | 490.91a | 27.44b | |
| 2014 | FCM | 13509a | 24359ab | 0.46d | 475.86bc | 28.39a |
| FLM | 13421a | 23761ab | 0.57b | 478.90ab | 28.12a | |
| FLSM | 13671a | 26242a | 0.53bc | 496.12ab | 27.55a | |
| PM | 11169b | 20986bc | 0.64a | 500.59a | 22.32b | |
| CK | 9594b | 19917c | 0.48cd | 457.06c | 21.01b |
CK, the control, conventional flat planting without plastic film mulch; PM, flat planting with maize rows (60 cm spacing) on plastic film mulch (70 cm wide); FCM, furrow planting of maize (60 cm spacing), separated by consecutive plastic film-mulched ridges (each 50 cm wide and 15 cm tall); FLSM, furrow planting of maize (60 cm spacing), separated by alternating large and small plastic film-mulched ridges (large ridges: 70 cm wide and 15 cm tall, small ridges 50 cm wide and 10 cm tall); FLM, furrow-flat planting of maize (60 cm spacing) with a large plastic film-mulched ridge (60 cm wide and 15 cm tall) alternating with a flat plastic film-mulched space (60 cm wide). Values followed by the different lowercase letter in the same row indicate significant differences among treatments for each year (Tukey HSD test, p < 0.05).