Abstract:In order to study the effects of interactions of plastic film mulching and controlled/slow release fertilizer on the growth and nitrogen utilization of spring maize, field experiments were conducted at two sites in Yongshou and Changwu on the Weibei Dryland in Shaanxi Province in 2017. The experiments included two cropping patterns (e.g. full plastic film mulching, M; flat planting, F), and three types of nitrogen fertilizer (e.g. urea fertilizer, U; control release fertilizer, CU; slow release fertilizer, SU). A total of six different treatments were involved consequently. Then the influences of different interactions on the growth of spring maize were evaluated through comparisons of leaf area index (LAI), biomass accumulation, grain yield and nitrogen utilization under different treatments. The results showed that plastic film mulching could significantly increase spring maize yield by 14.0%~34.2% compared with the flat planting treatment. The plastic mulching treatment increased nitrogen content in the 0~40cm soil, reduced nitrogen leaching to deep soil layers, and increased nitrogen use efficiency by 95%~237%. Under plastics film mulching, the leaf area aging rate of ureabased treatment (U) was higher than that of the coated controlled release fertilizer treatment (CU) and the urea added DCD treatment (SU) by 42.0%~51.6% and 55.4%~66.3%, respectively. The dry matter accumulation rate of ureabased treatment (U) from flowering to maturity was lower than that of the coated controlled release fertilizer treatment (CU) and the urea added DCD treatment (SU) by 112.7%~155.2% and 30.3%~44.7%, respectively. Under plastic film mulching, nitrogen transport amount and efficiency of vegetative organs of the controlled/slow release fertilizer treatment were higher than that of the ureabased treatment (U) by 4.2%~78.1%, and the nitrogen absorption efficiency and nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency were higher than the urea treatment (U) by 6.6%~24.2%. Therefore, the interactions of plastic film mulching and controlled/slow release fertilizer can alleviate premature aging of spring maize, promote the growth, and increase the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer utilization of spring maize to some extent. Thus, the combination of plastic film mulching and controlled/slow release fertilizer can be used as an effective measure to increase corn yield in the Weibei Dryland in Shaanxi Province.