Field positioning tests were carried out consecutively for 3 years in the main spring corn producing areas in Shanxi province.Five treatments were set up:no cover (CK)，permeable plastic film (SS)，photodegradable plastic film (GJ)，biodegradable plastic film (SJ) and ordinary plastic film (PE).The comprehensive effects of different types of plastic film mulch on spring maize were studied to provide scientific basis for selecting suitable types of plastic film mulch for spring maize cultivation in arid and semi-arid areas.The results showed that:(1) The soil temperature of 5 cm soil layer under PE，SS，GJ and SJ treatment increased by 3.5，2.5，2.3 and 1.1℃，respectively，compared with CK treatment.The average amount of water stored in the 3 years soil layer in 0～100 cm depth during the whole growth period of spring maize was ranked as GJ，SJ，SS，PE and CK in sequence from high to low.(2) The contents of soil organic matter and total nitrogen in 0～40 cm soil treated by plastic film mulching were all higher than those treated by CK，among which，the contents of soil organic matter in SJ treatment were the highest，with an increase of 0.30 g/kg compared with those treated by CK treatment.Mulching treatment significantly reduced the nitrate nitrogen accumulation in 0～300 cm soil layer，and SJ treatment had the lowest accumulation of 455.53 kg/hm².(3) Mulching treatment could significantly improve the yield and water use efficiency of spring corn，among which SJ treatment had the highest yield and water use efficiency，which were 24.35% and 7.46 kg/(hm²·mm)，respectively，compared with CK treatment.(4) Mulching treatment promoted the absorption of nitrogen，phosphorus and potassium by crops.Compared with CK treatment，plastic mulching treatment significantly improved the apparent nitrogen use rate and agricultural efficiency of spring maize，with the apparent nitrogen use rate increasing by 5.83～23.27 percentage points，and the agricultural efficiency of nitrogen use rate increasing by 3.81～9.73 kg/kg，all of which were highest under SJ treatment.Biodegradable plastic film has significant effects in increasing temperature and retaining water，improving soil surface nutrients，promoting high yield of spring corn，efficient use of water and fertilizer，and alleviating residual film pollution，which is conducive to the sustainable development of environment and agricultural ecosystem，and is a more effective and reosnable cover planting method in arid and semi-arid regions.