Can ridge-furrow plastic mulching replace irrigation in dryland wheat and maize cropping systems?

Dryland crop production requires significant water investments, but problems associated with irrigation have been observed in many dryland regions (e.g., China, Australia and the Mediterranean basin). A key strategy for maintaining crop yields without over-exploiting the scarce water resource is by increasing water use efficiency (WUE). Plastic mulching technology for wheat and maize has been commonly used in China, but their effect on yield, soil water content, evapotranspiration (ET), and WUE has not been compared with traditional irrigation. Using a meta-analysis approach, we quantitatively examined the efficacy of plastic mulching in comparison with traditional irrigation in the same region. By covering the ridges with plastic and channeling rainwater into a very narrow planting zone (furrow), our results showed that plastic mulching resulted in a yield increase comparable to irrigated crops but used 24% less water in comparison with irrigation due primarily to a much greater WUE and better retention of soil water. The higher WUE in plastic-mulched croplands was likely a result of a greater proportion of available water being used for transpiration (T) than evaporation (E). Currently production costs and residual plastic pollution hinder worldwide adoption of the technique, despite being a promising strategy for dryland cropping systems.