The temporal variations in soil temperature with all the treatments
during 2009 are shown in Fig. 3. The effect on soil
temperature of cultivation with ridge and furrow mulching was
larger during the early stages of growth and the effect decreased
with maize growth. The soil temperature was consistently highest
with PP (18.3–31.0 ◦C) and lowest with PS (16.3–27.8 ◦C) in each soil
layer. PP and PB produced significantly higher soil temperatures
than CK from planting to 80 DAP, at 5–20 cm soil depths. There was
no significant difference during the whole growing season between
PL and CK. The soil temperature at 5–20 cm depths was significantly
lower with PS than CK, up to 100 DAP. After 100 DAP, there were
no differences in soil temperature among the treatments.