Effects of plastic-film mulch on growth traits and yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) in saline-alkaline fields

Plastic-film mulch is one of the important ways to increase production in saline-alkali fields. In order to promote the application of plastic-film mulch on alfalfa (Medicago sativa) production, the field experiments about the effects of plastic-film mulch on growth traits and yield of alfalfa under different salt concentration were conducted in huanghua farm, yumen district of hexi corridor. The results showed that the germination rate, survival rate, overwintering rate and yield decreased with the increase of salt concentration, while plasticfilm mulch significantly increased (P0.05) above indices and the stem-leaf ratio of alfalfa. The yield with plastic-film mulch under higher salt concentration (0.5%) was significantly higher (P0.05) than that without plastic-film mulch under lower salt concentration (0.3%) which suggested that plastic-film mulch could be applied to the production of alfalfa.