Abstract: Mulching plastic film is a crucial measure for ensuring agricultural production in the Hetao Irrigation District, in Inner Mongolia, addressing issues such as poor soil moisture and periodic salinization. However, due to inadequate management, residual plastic film continues to accumulate in the soil, negatively affecting agricultural productivity. While research on residual plastic film pollution in the Hetao Irrigation District has increased, most studies focus on investigating and analyzing the accumulation levels in soil, with limited attention to its ecological effects. Therefore, this study evaluated the variation in residual plastic film accumulation from 2000 to 2021 and analyzed the ecological effects of residual film pollution by constructing an ecological effect model and evaluation system. Additionally, the impact of different management strategies on variationof residual film accumulation and ecological effects over the next 50 years in the Hetao Irrigation District was evaluated. The results indicated that residual film pollution in the farmland soils initially increased and then decreased from 2000 to 2021. By 2021, the average residual film accumulation reached 217.64 kg/hm², indicating severe pollution, with cumulative ecological effects continuing to rise. Both improving the recovery rate of polyethylene (PE) film and using biodegradable film strategies would help control the increase in residual film pollution and its ecological effects over the next 50 years. Notably, achieving a 95% recovery rate of PE film would result comparable to using biodegradable film, both effectively reducing cumulative and direct ecological effects of residual film. However, the indirect ecological effects caused by residual film would not be mitigated. These findings provide theoretical guidance for the control and management of residual plastic film pollution in farmland soils of the Hetao Irrigation District.