Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Yield and Yield Components as Affected by Mulching at Teda, Centeral Gondar, Ethiopia

Abstract

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is one of the most popular salad crops and occupies the largest production area among salad crops in the world. However, production of lettuce can be limited due to lack of improved production techniques. Farmers in northwestern Ethiopia didn’t apply mulching for lettuce. A field study was conducted at Teda in 2018 to evaluate the effect of different mulching materials on yield and yield component of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) under irrigation. Five mulching materials used as a treatment viz: white plastic, black plastic, teff straw, chickpea straw and control (without mulch). The treatments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Application of mulching increased leaf width, leaf number, plant height, biological yield, root volume, dry matter and plant height. The highest and lowest yield was recorded for black plastic mulch and no mulch, respectively. The study revealed that the black plastic is the best mulching material among the organic and inorganic once for the production of lettuce in the study area.