Evaluating the Effects of Biodegradable Film Mulching Patterns on the Cultivation of Rainfed Peanut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) in Northwest China

Plastic film mulching has been extensively used to improve yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of main crops in arid and semi-arid regions of northwest China. However, the plastic film residue has given rise to many problems, such as environmental pollution, land deterioration and yield reduction. Biodegradable film might be a good substitute for plastic film in agriculture production. Whether biodegradable film is suitable for peanut, one of the most important oil crops in the world? Which biodegradable film mulching pattern is beneficial to save water and increase production of peanut? A two-year field experiment was conducted to identify an appropriate biodegradable film mulching pattern for peanut at a typical rain-fed semi-arid site on the Loess Plateau. The peanut variety ‘Luhua 12’ was sown in four planting patterns: 1) flat planting without biodegradable film mulching (FNM), 2) flat planting with biodegradable film full mulching (FBM), 3) ridge-furrow planting with biodegradable film full mulching (RBM), 4) alternating wide-low and narrow-high ridges with biodegradable film full mulching (ARBM). The results indicated that biodegradable film mulching significantly improved soil hydrothermal environment, increased leaf area index and shoot biomass, promoted leaf chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate, and finally enhanced production and WUE of peanut in comparison to FNM. Among the three biodegradable film mulching patterns, the average yield and WUE of peanut in ARFB were 17.2% and 24.2% significantly greater than FBM, and were 8.7% and 13.6% significantly greater than RBM, across the two seasons. In addition, ARFB consumed 4.8%-6.9% and 3.9%-4.4% less water, and increased 2218-4948 yuan ka−1 and 1591-2333 yuan ka−1 more income than FBM and RBM, respectively. Present study clearly demonstrated that ARFB is a prospective agricultural management to save water, increase production and WUE of peanut, and simultaneously to reduce plastic pollution in rain-fed semi-arid regions of northwest China