Biodegradable mulch controls weeds and increases water use efficiency in lettuce crops

Agnaldo Roberto De J Freitas,Caetano Marciano De Souza,Francisco Claudio L De Freitas,José C Zanuncio,Paulo Geraldo Berger,Fernando José G Borges,Fabio T Delazari

doi:10.1590/s0102-0536-20210314

Agnaldo Roberto De J Freitas, Caetano Marciano De Souza + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-0536-20210314

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Vegetable cultivation requires high water use and weed control. Soil cover using recycled paper, can be an alternative to polyethylene film to reduce weed incidence, soil temperature and increase water use efficiency beyond reduces costs and environmental pollutions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of biodegradable mulch in weed management and water use efficiency (WUE) in lettuce crop. The treatments were composed of brown recycled paper (RP), black polyethylene film (PF) and soil without cover with weed removal (WR) and without weed removal (WW). RP and PF were efficient to control weeds. The soil temperature with RP was 8.2 and 2.1ºC lower than with PF and WR, respectively. The lettuce yield with RP was 14.5 and 28.3% higher than WR, and with PF, respectively. The water volume applied with RP was 26.5% lower, and WUE was 55.6% higher compared to WR. Soil cover with recycled paper controlled weeds, reduced soil temperature and water consumption and increased yield and water use efficiency in lettuce crop.

Highlights

Mulch biodegradável controla plantas daninhas e aumenta a eficiência do uso de água na cultura da alface
O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o uso do mulch biodegradável no manejo de plantas daninhas e eficiência do uso da água (EUA) na cultura da alface
Weeds can reduce lettuce crop productivity (Odero & Wright, 2013) and are usually controlled by manual weeding, due to a lack of effective herbicides registered for this crop, and intensive soil rotation (Lati et al, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

Mulch biodegradável controla plantas daninhas e aumenta a eficiência do uso de água na cultura da alface. A cobertura do solo com papel reciclado controlou a incidência de plantas daninhas, reduziu a temperatura do solo e o consumo de água e aumentou a produtividade e eficiência do uso da água na cultura da alface. The polyethylene film has high degradation resistance, which does not allow it to be incorporated into the soil, with its removal and elimination after the cultivation, being necessary increased costs and leading to environmental contamination (Kyrikou, 2007; Steinmetz et al, 2016) Organic materials such as plant residues (leaves, branches, crop residues, etc.) reduce weed incidence and soil temperature and increase soil moisture (Kader et al, 2017a). Paper is a biodegradable material used to cover soil with effective temperature reduction (Zhang et al, 2009; Haapala et al, 2014), weed control (Moreno et al, 2013; Haapala et al, 2015) and soil moisture maintenance over

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