Effects of length and application rate of rice straw mulch on surface runoff and soil loss under laboratory simulated rainfall

Forest land affected by deforestation yields high soil and water losses. Suitable management practices need to be found that can reduce these losses and achieve ecological and hydrological sustainability of the deforested areas. Mulch has been found to be effective in reducing soil losses; straw mulch is easy to apply, contributes soil organic matter, and is efficient since the day of application. However, the complex effects of rice straw mulch with different application rates and lengths on surface runoff and soil loss have not been clarified in depth. The current paper evaluates the efficiency of rice straw mulch in reducing the hydrological response of a silty clay loam soil under high intensity and low frequency rainfall events (tap water with total depth of 49 mm and intensity of 98 mm/h) simulated in the laboratory. Surface runoff and soil loss at three lengths of the straw (10, 30, and 200 mm) and three application rates (1, 2, and 3 Mg/ha) were measured in 50 cm (width) × 100 cm (length) × 10 cm (depth) plots with disturbed soil samples (aggregate soil size < 4 mm) collected in a deforested area. Bare soil was used as control experiment. Runoff volume and erosion were significantly (at p < 0.05) lower in mulched soils compared to control plots. These reductions were ascribed to the water absorption capacity of the rice straw and the protection cover of the mulch layer. The minimum runoff was observed for a mulch layer of 3 Mg/ha of straw with a length of 200 mm. The lowest soil losses were found with straw length of 10 mm. The models developed predict runoff and erosion based on simple linear functions of mulch application rate and length, and can be used for a suitable hydrological management of soil. It is concluded that, thanks to rice straw mulch used as an organic soil conditioner, soil erosion and surface runoff are significantly (at p < 0.05) reduced, and the mulch protection contributes to reduce the risk of soil degradation. Further research is, however, needed to analyze the upscaling of the hydrological effects of mulching from the plot to the hillslope scale.