Drip Plastic Film

Drip plastic film combined with film mulching is important and effective to increase water use efficiency and potato yield. Film mulch is commonly used worldwide to improve field hydrothermal environment. Further, it improves the radiative microclimate which maintains moisture through soil surface evaporation reduction and increases soil temperature. Film mulch can control microbial activity, accelerate plant growth, and improve yield and water use efficiency by regulating field hydrothermal conditions. However, these positive effects are accompanied with some potential negative effects such as decreasing soil organic matter content and resulting in soil pollution because of non-degradable plastic film. The influences of the plastic mulch on the heat transport process and plant growth depend on the film optical properties, the gap distance between film and underlying soil, and climatic environment. Transparent and black films, most commonly used in agriculture, affect the thermal environment and crop growth differently. Transparent film, effective for soil solarization, can produce higher soil temperature than black film. However, black film can also produce higher soil temperature because of the contact degree between the film and underlying soil which affects the soil temperature. The transparent film can be better or worse than the black film for increasing plant yield because of different climatic environments. Potatoes are a shallow-rooted crop and are sensitive to heat stress. Therefore, transparent and black films affect heat transfer and drip irrigated potato growth in different areas, which remains a problem. The purpose was to determine: how the transparent and black films affect heat transfer (soil temperature, soil heat flux, and canopy net radiation) in potato field in these two areas; influences of transparent and black films on potato development, yield, and irrigation water use efficiency; and whether and which film mulch should be applied in drip plastic film irrigated potato cultivation in these two areas.

Drip plastic film is an important agricultural practice used to conserve soil water and produce higher crop yields worldwide. However, the plastic film is usually made from non-degradable polyethylene materials, which may lead to the incorporation of plastic into soils and cause a series of negative environmental effects. As such, biodegradable film mulching (BM) can represent a valuable alternative to PM. A two-year experiment was carried out during seasons to evaluate the effects of PM, BM, and no film mulching (NM) on the soil water balance in the corn field. Respectively, under BM, PM, and NM and then used to evaluate soil water contents (SWC), water fluxes, and soil water balances in two-dimensional soil profiles. The results of numerical simulations were in good agreement with measurements, with the mean relative errors for the calibration and validation periods, respectively.Significant differences in SWCs were observed only after the average fraction of the disintegrated area of the biodegradable film was equal or higher than about 40% (during the late crop growth period). The results also showed that mulching mainly affects SWCs in the top 0–20 cm soil layer. There were significant differences in cumulative evaporation and water fluxes between different treatments, but an insignificant difference in root water uptake between PM and BM. Corresponding cumulative water fluxes at the 80 cm depth increased and decreased by 6.6% and 48.8%, respectively. Two-dimensional simulations of soil water content distributions revealed that the "water stress" area in the soil profile (with SWCs lower than readily available water) before irrigation was 1.79 and 0.75 times larger for BM than for PM and NM, respectively.

Make good plant beds or ridges so that the drip plastic filmcan be installed on them. Install drip irrigation on the beds. Drip plastic film is best used with plastic mulch when the drip tapes are placed under the plastic mulch. This will ensure that the plants get sufficient water. You must ensure that you check the drip emitters always to know that they are emitting water well. Lay the plastic mulch. After you have installed the drip plastic film, you can then lay the plastic mulch on the drip irrigation tapes. Drip plastic film is very reliable in production of quality crops. Plastic mulches on the other hand keep ripening fruits off of the soil. This reduced contact with the soil decreases fruit rot as well as keeps the fruit and vegetables clean. This is beneficial for the production of strawberries. The plastic mulch covering the soil decreases the crusting effect of rain and sunlight. The reduction in weed quantity means a decreased need for mechanical cultivation. Weed control between beds of plastic can be done using directly applied herbicides and through mechanical means. The soil underneath the plastic mulch stays loose and well aerated. This increases the amount of oxygen in the soil and aids in microbial activity. The use of plastic mulch creates a practically weed free area around the plant, removing the need for cultivation except between the rows of plastic. Root damage associated with cultivation is therefore eliminated. Due to these factors, the use of plastic mulch can lead to an improvement in the overall growth of the plant. Also the use of drip plastic film is very beneficial because it prevents soil erosion there by bringing about healthy roots.