Minimizing environment footprint through half-plastic film mulch and straw incorporation in maize-based system

Straw incorporation with half -plastic film mulch is a promising approach for enhancing soil quality in dryland farming. However, its effects on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) and NH3 emissions remain poorly understood. This study aims to optimize the mulch practice to balance the plastic film input with comprehensive benefits and examine the temporal dynamics and influencing factors of soil GHG and NH3 emissions. A 3 -year field experiment was conducted in a wheat -maize cropping system in north-western China with a complete randomized design including three treatments replicated thrice: (a) no straw incorporation or half -plastic film mulch (CT), (b) straw incorporation without half -plastic film mulch (S), and (c) straw incorporation with half -plastic film mulch (SP). The study revealed that S treatment significantly enhanced crop yield and soil cumulative N2O, CO2, and NH3 emissions during the maize season by 8.26%, 113.51%, 31.78%, and 64.92%, respectively, compared to CT treatment. SP treatment significantly decreased N2O and NH3 emissions by 30.66% and 23.74%, respectively, and slightly stimulated CO2 emissions by 8.73% relative to S treatment throughout the three maize seasons. The average maize yield gap between S and SP treatments ranged from 517 to 800 kg ha -1. N2O and NH3 emissions were significantly associated with soil water content (SWC), soil N components, and enzyme activity (nitrate and nitrite reductase), whereas CO2 emissions were significantly influenced by soil temperature. Compared with S treatment, half -plastic film mulch increased SWC (16.77%), reduced soil N content and inhibited activity of nitrate (12.15%) and nitrite reductase (8.40%), eventually mitigated straw incorporation -induced N2O and NH3 emissions by 30.66% and 23.74%, respectively. Overall, we demonstrated that straw incorporation with halfplastic film mulch is an innovative practice for enhancing the sustainability of dryland farming by increasing maize yield and mitigating N2O and NH3 emissions.