Technological watch

The mulch film residues in cotton fields in south Xinjiang have caused serious harm to the soil environment and ecological security in the oasis areas. Non-mulched planting provides an alternative approach to this problem. In this experiment, irrigation was provided on the basis of the reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0). Two layouts of drip tapes (1T4R—one tape for four rows; 2T4R—two tapes for four rows) were applied to the non-mulched, drip-irrigated cotton fields in south Xinjiang, and their impacts on soil water–heat–salt dynamic changes and the water consumption and yield of cotton were compared and analyzed. The experiment shows that the 2T4R layout provided an excellent soil water–salt environment for cotton growth and yield formation. Soil temperature decreased by 0.8 °C and drip irrigation belt input increased by CNY1200·hm−2. However, a higher profit derived from the 2T4R layout could compensate for the increased expenditure. The results show that cotton cultivation using non-mulched drip irrigation instead of mulched drip irrigation can potentially alleviate soil environmental and ecological security problems caused by plastic mulch residues in oasis areas. Although cotton yield was reduced by about 15%, water and nitrogen strategies and other field management could be adjusted to compensate for the disadvantages.