IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v95y2008i3p190-198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Crop yield and soil water restoration on 9-year-old alfalfa pasture in the semiarid Loess Plateau of China

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Xiao-Ling
  • Sun, Guo-Jun
  • Jia, Yu
  • Li, Feng-Min
  • Xu, Jin-Zhang

Abstract

The alfalfa pastureland in the semiarid Loess Plateau region of Northwest China usually has dry soil layers. A field experiment was conducted from October 2000 to October 2004 to examine soil water recovery and crop productivity on a 9-year-old alfalfa pasture. This experiment included six treatments: alfalfa pasture for 10-14 years, a conventional farming system without prior alfalfa planting, and four alfalfa-crop rotation treatments. For the rotation treatments, after 9 years of alfalfa selected crops were planted from 2001 to 2004 in the following sequence: (1) millet, spring wheat, potatoes, peas; (2) millet, corn, corn, spring wheat; (3) millet, potatoes, spring wheat, corn; (4) millet, fallow, peas, potatoes. The results showed that dry soil layers occurred in alfalfa pasture. We then plowed the alfalfa pasture and planted different crops. The soil water gradually increased during crop growth in the experimental period. The degree of soil water recovery in the four alfalfa-crop rotation treatments was derived from comparison with the soil water in the conventional system. After 4 years, the soil water recovery from the alfalfa-crop rotation systems at 0-500 cm soil depth was 90.5%, 89.8%, 92.2% and 96.7%, respectively. Soil total N content and soil respiration rate were high in the alfalfa-crop rotation systems. The yields of spring wheat in 2002, peas in 2003 and potatoes in 2004 in the alfalfa-crop rotation systems were not significantly different from yields in the conventional system. In the alfalfa-crop rotation systems, the yields of spring wheat and peas were greatly influenced by rainfall and were lowest in the dry year of 2004; the yields of corn and potatoes had a direct relationship with water use and were lowest in 2003. In summary, soil water in dry soil layers can recover, and crop yields in the alfalfa-crop systems were equal to those of the conventional system.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Xiao-Ling & Sun, Guo-Jun & Jia, Yu & Li, Feng-Min & Xu, Jin-Zhang, 2008. "Crop yield and soil water restoration on 9-year-old alfalfa pasture in the semiarid Loess Plateau of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 190-198, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:95:y:2008:i:3:p:190-198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378-3774(07)00243-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xie, Zhong-kui & Wang, Ya-jun & Li, Feng-min, 2005. "Effect of plastic mulching on soil water use and spring wheat yield in arid region of northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 71-83, July.
    2. Wang, Xiao-Ling & Li, Feng-Min & Jia, Yu & Shi, Wen-Quan, 2005. "Increasing potato yields with additional water and increased soil temperature," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 181-194, December.
    3. Singh, K. P. & Kumar, Vijay, 1981. "Water use and water-use efficiency of wheat and barley in relation to seeding dates, levels of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-316, July.
    4. He, Xue-Feng & Cao, Huhua & Li, Feng-Min, 2007. "Econometric analysis of the determinants of adoption of rainwater harvesting and supplementary irrigation technology (RHSIT) in the semiarid Loess Plateau of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 243-250, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hou, Chenli & Tian, Delong & Xu, Bing & Ren, Jie & Hao, Lei & Chen, Ning & Li, Xianyue, 2021. "Use of the stable oxygen isotope method to evaluate the difference in water consumption and utilization strategy between alfalfa and maize fields in an arid shallow groundwater area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    2. Wang, X.C. & Muhammad, T.N. & Hao, M.D. & Li, J., 2011. "Sustainable recovery of soil desiccation in semi-humid region on the Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(8), pages 1262-1270, May.
    3. Fang, Chao & Song, Xin & Ye, Jian-Sheng & Yuan, Zi-Qiang & Agathokleous, Evgenios & Feng, Zhaozhong & Li, Feng-Min, 2023. "Enhanced soil water recovery and crop yield following conversion of 9-year-old leguminous pastures into croplands," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    4. Zhang, Yuanhong & Li, Haoyu & Sun, Yuanguang & Zhang, Qi & Liu, Pengzhao & Wang, Rui & Li, Jun, 2022. "Temporal stability analysis evaluates soil water sustainability of different cropping systems in a dryland agricultural ecosystem," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    5. Li, Han & Si, Bing Cheng & Zhang, Zhiqiang & Miao, Changhong, 2022. "Deep soil water storage and drainage following conversion of deep rooted to shallow rooted vegetation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    6. Gu, Xiao-Bo & Li, Yuan-Nong & Du, Ya-Dan, 2018. "Effects of ridge-furrow film mulching and nitrogen fertilization on growth, seed yield and water productivity of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) in Northwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 60-70.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhao, Hong & Xiong, You-Cai & Li, Feng-Min & Wang, Run-Yuan & Qiang, Sheng-Cai & Yao, Tao-Feng & Mo, Fei, 2012. "Plastic film mulch for half growing-season maximized WUE and yield of potato via moisture-temperature improvement in a semi-arid agroecosystem," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 68-78.
    2. Bu, Ling-duo & Liu, Jian-liang & Zhu, Lin & Luo, Sha-sha & Chen, Xin-ping & Li, Shi-qing & Lee Hill, Robert & Zhao, Ying, 2013. "The effects of mulching on maize growth, yield and water use in a semi-arid region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 71-78.
    3. Liu, Xiaoli & Wang, Yandong & Yan, Xiaoqun & Hou, Huizhi & Liu, Pei & Cai, Tie & Zhang, Peng & Jia, Zhikuan & Ren, Xiaolong & Chen, Xiaoli, 2020. "Appropriate ridge-furrow ratio can enhance crop production and resource use efficiency by improving soil moisture and thermal condition in a semi-arid region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Zhang, Jiyang & Sun, Jingsheng & Duan, Aiwang & Wang, Jinglei & Shen, Xiaojun & Liu, Xiaofei, 2007. "Effects of different planting patterns on water use and yield performance of winter wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai plain of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 41-47, August.
    5. Wang, Jialin & Pan, Zhihua & Pan, Feifei & He, Di & Pan, Yuying & Han, Guolin & Huang, Na & Zhang, Ziyuan & Yin, Wenjuan & Zhang, Jiale & Peng, Ruiqi & Wang, Zizhong, 2020. "The regional water-conserving and yield-increasing characteristics and suitability of soil tillage practices in Northern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    6. Bouma, Jetske A. & Hegde, Seema S. & Lasage, Ralph, 2016. "Assessing the returns to water harvesting: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 100-109.
    7. Ren, Xiaolong & Jia, Zhikuan & Chen, Xiaoli, 2008. "Rainfall concentration for increasing corn production under semiarid climate," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(12), pages 1293-1302, December.
    8. Wu, Lihong & Quan, Hao & Wu, Lina & Zhang, Xi & Feng, Hao & Ding, Dianyuan & Siddique, Kadambot H.M., 2023. "Responses of winter wheat yield and water productivity to sowing time and plastic mulching in the Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    9. Pardo, J.J. & Martínez-Romero, A. & Léllis, B.C. & Tarjuelo, J.M. & Domínguez, A., 2020. "Effect of the optimized regulated deficit irrigation methodology on water use in barley under semiarid conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    10. Ali, Shahzad & Jan, Amanullah & Zhang, Peng & Khan, Muhammad Numan & Cai, Tei & Wei, Ting & Ren, Xiaolong & Jia, Qianmin & Han, Qingfang & Jia, Zhikuan, 2016. "Effects of ridge-covering mulches on soil water storage and maize production under simulated rainfall in semiarid regions of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1-11.
    11. Hu, Yajin & Ma, Penghui & Zhang, Binbin & Hill, Robert L. & Wu, Shufang & Dong, Qin’ge & Chen, Guangjie, 2019. "Exploring optimal soil mulching for the wheat-maize cropping system in sub-humid drought-prone regions in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 59-71.
    12. Daniel Kyalo Willy & Arnim Kuhn, 2016. "Technology Adoption Under Variable Weather Conditions — The Case of Rain Water Harvesting in Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(02), pages 1-25, June.
    13. He, Gang & Wang, Zhaohui & Li, Fucui & Dai, Jian & Li, Qiang & Xue, Cheng & Cao, Hanbing & Wang, Sen & Malhi, Sukhdev S., 2016. "Soil water storage and winter wheat productivity affected by soil surface management and precipitation in dryland of the Loess Plateau, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1-9.
    14. Yichen Kang & Weina Zhang & Xinyu Yang & Yuhui Liu & Yanling Fan & Mingfu Shi & Kai Yao & Shuhao Qin, 2020. "Furrow-ridge mulching managements affect the yield, tuber quality and storage of continuous cropping potatoes," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 66(11), pages 576-583.
    15. Fan, Yubing & Wang, Chenggang & Nan, Zhibiao, 2014. "Comparative evaluation of crop water use efficiency, economic analysis and net household profit simulation in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 335-345.
    16. Juchems, Elizabeth M. & Schoengold, Karina & Brozovic, Nicholas, 2013. "Predicting Groundwater Trading Participation In The Upper Republican Natural Resource District," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150511, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Mukherjee, A. & Kundu, M. & Sarkar, S., 2010. "Role of irrigation and mulch on yield, evapotranspiration rate and water use pattern of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 182-189, December.
    18. Kumar, M. Dinesh, 2018. "Input Delivery System in Agriculture including Irrigation and Other Services and their Efficiency: The Role of Finance Sector," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 73(01), January.
    19. Ali, Shahzad & Xu, Yueyue & Jia, Qianmin & Ahmad, Irshad & Ma, Xiangcheng & Yan, Zhang & Cai, Tie & Ren, Xiaolong & Zhang, Peng & Jia, Zhikuan, 2018. "Interactive effects of planting models with limited irrigation on soil water, temperature, respiration and winter wheat production under simulated rainfall conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 198-211.
    20. Li, S.X. & Wang, Z.H. & Li, S.Q. & Gao, Y.J. & Tian, X.H., 2013. "Effect of plastic sheet mulch, wheat straw mulch, and maize growth on water loss by evaporation in dryland areas of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 39-49.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:95:y:2008:i:3:p:190-198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.