Effect Of Organic Mulches Research Articles

Six-year results on the effect of organic mulching on potato yield and tuber damages

Six-year results on the effect of organic mulching on potato yield and tuber damages

The Effects of Organic Mulches on Water Erosion Control for Skid Trails in the Hyrcanian Mixed Forests

Ground-based skidding can lead to severe soil disturbance by increasing surface water flow and soil erosion. Organic mulches have been shown to be effective in contrasting this type of soil disturbance, although the cost/benefit aspect has yet to be studied. This study, by installing runoff sample plots, aims to elucidate the effects of litter (LM) and sawdust (SM) mulches with three application rates (litter: 7.6 Mg ha−1 LM7.6, 14.6 Mg ha−1 LM14.6, 22.5 Mg ha−1 LM22.5; sawdust: 5.3 Mg ha−1 SM5.3, 11.4 Mg ha−1 SM11.4, 16.7 Mg ha−1 SM16.7) on runoff, soil, and nutrient loss (nitrate and phosphate) in skid trails established in the Hyrcanian forest. The results were also compared to the undisturbed area (UND) and to an untreated skid trail (UNT). The results showed that both litter and sawdust mulch significantly decreased runoff, soil loss, and nitrate and phosphate loss. The values of runoff, runoff coefficient, soil loss, NO3, and PO4 were at the highest level in the untreated skid trails (UNTs). The runoff, runoff coefficient, soil loss, NO3, and PO4 gradually decreased as the application rate of both the litter (LM) and sawdust (SM) mulches increased. According to the results, it is possible to conclude that the mulch application rates of 7.6–14.6 Mg ha−1 and 5.3–11.4 Mg ha−1 for litter and sawdust mulch, respectively, can be applied to maintain soil and water conservation after logging operations on skid trails. The obtained findings can help to shape specific best-management practices for the implementation of sustainable forest operations in the context of the study area, by indicating suitable mulch types and application rates to decrease the negative effects of erosion.

Effect of Organic Mulches on Yield, Water Productivity and Economy of Garden Pea Cultivars

Mulching techniques that are adaptive and extremely successful may be able to reduce the detrimental impacts of crop production and water stress on different varieties of peas in a climate change scenario. Field experiment was carried out in the Umroi region of Meghalaya during the rabi season (2020–2021) for this reason. This study used a split-plot design with three organic mulches as the main plot treatment and four pea types as the sub-plot treatments, which was replicated three times. The field trial showed that paddy straw mulch significantly outperformed both weed mulch and no mulch in terms of green pod yield, water productivity, and benefit cost ratio, with values of 89.33, 54.14 kg ha-1 mm-1, and 3.16, respectively.VM 12 greatly topped other cultivars in terms of green pod yield, water productivity, and benefit-cost ratio (BCR), with values of 89.78 kg ha-1, 54.41 kg ha-1 mm-1 and 3.33, respectively. The investigation showed that the best alternative agronomic strategy for achieving the maximum yield output of garden pea was paddy straw mulch, followed by weed mulch and un-mulch.

Effect of Organic Mulch and Mycorrhizal Inoculation on Growth and Yield of Tomato Plants

Net greenhouse experiment was conducted through the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons at Dokki protected cultivation experimental site, Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation to investigate applied two factors organic mulch i.e., (bagasse, compost, palm fibers, mushroom spent, sawdust and control), mycorrhizal inoculation (with and without) and their interaction on growth and productivity of tomato plants. The seedlings of tomato cv. Super strain B was transplanted on the 15th October 2019 and 2020. The experimental design was split plot with three replicates. Results indicated that applied compost mulch treatment, without mycorrhizal inoculation and their interaction enhanced all vegetative growth characteristics i.e., (plant height, number of leaves, number of shoots, stem diameter, fresh and dry weights of plant). Whereas, applied compost mulch treatment, with mycorrhizal inoculation and their interaction improved chemical content of (N, P and K) in leaves and increased average fruit weight and total yield/m2.

Effect of Organic Mulch and Water Supply on Yield and Profitability in Black Nightshade (Solanum Scabrum Mill.) in West Cameroon

Water shortage and increased soil water evaporation are among challenges facing farmers in tropical regions subjected to prevailing climate change. Combinations of agricultural practices expected to improve yields of cultivated crops such as mulching has been described as a method to improve soil water storage and yields of cultivated crops including black nightshade. Unfortunately, up to date, few research works have addressed the yields and profitability of black nightshade. Combinations of rate of water, frequency of irrigation, mulch rate were tested during the 2021 and 2022 off-seasons for large-scale and cost-effective production of black nightshade, a staple food crop. A total of 18 triptych combinations of three irrigation volumes (Vn), three irrigation frequencies (Fn) and two mulch rates (Mn) were tested. Results showed that the best 5 yielding combinations (mean: 42.08 t/ha) represented 124% of the trial mean (33.80 t/ha) independently of the cropping year. However, combination V1F3M10 i.e. applying an average of 5.8 mm/day of water every 3 days on 10 t/ha-mulch plots led to the highest yield (47.16 t/ha) and profit (304.60%). Therefore, the combination V1F3M10 should be adopted for off-season production of black nightshade on Oxisol from West-Cameroon. Soil mulching at 10 t/ha promoted water saving by 402.3 mm and probably reduced soil water evaporation, weeds control, and improved water use efficiency.

Organic mulch can suppress litchi downy blight through modification of soil microbial community structure and functional potentials

BackgroundOrganic mulch is an important management practice in agricultural production to improve soil quality, control crop pests and diseases and increase the biodiversity of soil microecosystem. However, the information about soil microbial diversity and composition in litchi plantation response to organic mulch and its attribution to litchi downy blight severity was limited. This study aimed to investigate the effect of organic mulch on litchi downy blight, and evaluate the biodiversity and antimicrobial potential of soil microbial community of litchi plantation soils under organic mulch.ResultsOrganic mulch could significantly suppress the disease incidence in the litchi plantation, and with a reduction of 37.74% to 85.66%. As a result of high-throughput 16S rRNA and ITS rDNA gene illumine sequencing, significantly higher bacterial and fungal community diversity indexes were found in organic mulch soils, the relative abundance of norank f norank o Vicinamibacterales, norank f Vicinamibacteraceae, norank f Xanthobacteraceae, Unclassified c sordariomycetes, Aspergillus and Thermomyces were significant more than that in control soils. Isolation and analysis of antagonistic microorganism showed that 29 antagonistic bacteria strains and 37 antagonistic fungi strains were unique for mulching soils.ConclusionsThus, we believe that organic mulch has a positive regulatory effect on the litchi downy blight and the soil microbial communities, and so, is more suitable for litchi plantation.

Effects of organic mulches on growth and yield of winter onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivars

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of cultivars and household organic mulches on growth and yield of onion at the Horticulture Farm of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from October 2020 to March 2021. The experiment consisted of three winter onion cultivars of Bangladesh viz. Taherpuri, BARI Piaz-1 and BARI Piaz-4, and five organic mulches, viz. Control (no mulching), vegetables wastes, rice straw, banana leaf and water hyacinth. The two-factor experiment was carried out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Results revealed that the parameters under study showed significant variation among onion varieties and mulching. BARI Piaz-4 gave the highest plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight and gross yield of bulb compared to BARI Piaz-1 and Taherpuri. The application of water hyacinth increased plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight of bulb, bulb length and diameter, and bulb yield compared to other treatments. Mulching with water hyacinth showed the best results in respect of on all the parameters under study. The highest bulb yield (12.72 t/ha) was recorded in T4 and the lowest bulb yield (8.97 t/ha) was found in T0. The effect of household organic mulches on yield were in order of water hyacinth> vegetables wastes> rice straw> banana leaf> control (no mulching). Among the treatment combinations water hyacinth mulch in combination with BARI Piaz-4 gave the highest plant height (47.85 cm), number of leaves (14.01), fresh weight of bulb (52.87 g) and gross yield of onion (18.24 t/ha), whereas, the lowest plant height (36.13 cm), number of leaves (6.53), fresh weight of bulb (17.08 g) and gross yield of onion (5.74 t/ha) were was obtained from Tahepuri caultivar having no mulch. Therefore, the combined application of water hyacinth along with BARI Piaz-4 was found to be the best in respect of growth and yield of onion.

Effects of Organic Mulches on the Soil Temperature, Humidity and CO2 Emissions

Effects of Organic Mulches on the Soil Temperature, Humidity and CO2 Emissions

Soil Restoration through the Application of Organic Mulch Following Skidding Operations Causing Vehicle Induced Compaction in the Hyrcanian Forests, Northern Iran

In this study an attempt was made to assess how different mulches affect the soil environment. In particular, different organic mulches such as leaf litter, straw and sawdust were tested in order to assess their capacities to amend the soil conditions. These analyses were carried out in the Hyrcanian mixed broadleaved forest. Organic mulches can compensate the litter layer loss on compaction-induced soil and accelerate the restoration process of soil properties, which takes from a few years to several decades without mulching. However, comprehensive knowledge on the effects of organic mulch on soil quality in terms of compaction-induced soil in the scientific literature is still scarce and inadequate. The main aim of the study was to examine the effects of three organic mulches (leaf litter, straw and sawdust) on the restoration of forestry vehicle-induced soil properties in the skid trail over a 2-year period. The results showed as the values of soil physical and chemical properties in litter, straw and sawdust treatments were significantly restored as compared with the values in the untreated soil. In general, leaf litter supplies nutrients at higher rates than the straw and sawdust mulches. However, according to the current results, a 2-year period is not enough to return the soil physical and chemical properties to pre-traffic levels. Furthermore, the present study shows that organic mulch spread on the surface of mineral soil in the skid trails after machine traffic acts as a fertilizer to accelerate the decomposition of organic matter.

Effect of organic mulch and LEDs light colors on green bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Studying the positive role of applying organic mulch and different colors of LEDs light, on the growth and yield of green bean plants, were carried out during 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons, at a privet farm within Suez Governorate. Seedlings of Bronco cultivar were transplanted at the 15th of October of both seasons. Two types of organic mulch i.e., chopped maize straw and chopped rice straw, addition to bare soil (control) were tested as a soil mulch treatment (factor 1). In addition, LEDs light colors i.e., red, blue and "red + blue" and without LED light were also tested (factor 2). Finally, interaction between both studied factors was also studied. Studied factors were arranged in split plot design with three replicates. Organic soil mulches were arranged in the main plots. However, LEDs light colors were arranged within the sub main plots. Vegetative growth parameters i.e., plant height, number of leaves/plant, stem diameter, number of branches/plant, fresh and dry weight of plants were measured. Moreover, percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents in leaves, as well as, chlorophyll reading (SPAD) were also measured. In addition, pod characteristics i.e., number of pods/plant, average pod weight and fiber content in pods, were studied as well. Finally, both early and total yield of green bean were studied. Changes in soil temperature under organic mulch treatments, as well as, bare soil were daily measured during the growing seasons. Results indicated that, in general, applying tested types of organic mulch modified soil temperature. Moreover, both tested factors were enhanced measured characters of vegetative growth, leaves content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as yield and its components. Furthermore, both treatments of chopped maize straw and "red + blue" LEDs light, as well as the interaction between both treatments were the most suitable for increasing productivity and quality of green bean plants.

Organic mulching alters the composition, but not the diversity, of rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities

Organic mulching is an effective forest management technique that provides carbon and nutrient sources to soil ecosystems, thereby improving the soil environment and promoting plant growth. Although the importance of rhizosphere microbiomes in plant and soil ecosystem functions has been widely recognised, the effect of organic mulching on rhizosphere microorganisms and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We performed a field experiment in a 15-year-old Ligustrum lucidum forest of urban green space. The diversity and composition of the rhizosphere bacterial and fungal communities following organic mulching were assessed by combining 16S ribosomal RNA and internal transcribed spacer amplicon sequencing. The correlations between microbial diversity, composition, and fine-root traits, as well as rhizosphere soil properties, were also analysed. The results showed that organic mulching did not significantly affect the diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial or fungal communities on the whole, but it increased the bacterial diversity after 6 months, with a 20-cm-thick mulch layer showing a greater effect than 5- or 10-cm layers. Organic mulching significantly altered the rhizosphere bacterial and fungal community composition; after 6 months of mulching, the community compositions were significantly associated with fine-root traits (specific root length, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentration) and enzyme (urease and dehydrogenase) activity. Moreover, alterations in the bacterial and fungal communities occurred at the order level within each mulching stage. Bacterial diversity is affected by fungal diversity and rhizosphere soil properties (water content and organic carbon) in time-dependent manners. Hence, organic mulching appears to directly affect the fungal composition while indirectly affecting the bacterial composition via influencing rhizosphere soil properties (dissolved organic carbon and peroxidase activity). Our study suggests that organic mulching affects the rhizosphere bacterial and fungal community composition through different pathways; however, the underlying mechanisms, including the effects of time and soil layers, require further exploration combined with multi-index measurements and long-term dynamic monitoring.

Population Of Bacteria In Soil Dystrudepts Under Oil Palm In The Application Of Organic Mulch And Earthworm

Research on the effect of organic mulch and earthworms under oil palm plantation on the total population bacteria is still scarce. The study aims to analyze the effect of organich mulch, earthworm desity, and the interaction between organich mulch and earthworm density on the total population bacteria. The research was carried out in May – August 2019. This research was a 3 x 4 factorial experiment which was placed according to a Split Plot Design with the basic design of Randomized Block Design, each treatment was repeated 3 times. Organic mulch as the main plot are 3 type, namely: M1 (M. bracteata), M2 (oil palm empty fruit brunches/ OPEFB) and M3 (oil palm midrib). The density of earthworms as subplots consists of 4 levels, namely: C0 (0 worms/m2), C1 (35 worms/m2), C2 (50 worms/m2) and C3 (65 worms/m2). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance. If the treatment is significantly different, the treatment was tested by Duncan’s at 5% significance level. The results showed that oil palm midrib organic mulch can increase the total population of fungi and bacteria compared to M. bracteata and OPFEB. The earthworms density 50 and 65 worms/m2 can increase the total bacterial population compared to other earthworm densities. The combination of oil palm midrib with earthworms density 50 and 65 worms/m2 can increase the total population of bacteria

Natural Mulches Effect on the Yield of White Maize

The experiment was conducted at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University during the period from November 2015 to May 2016, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207, to find out the effect of organic mulches on the yield of white maize. This experiment was comprised of two factors. Factor A: Variety (2): V1 = Shuvra; V2 = KS-510 and Factor B: Indigenous mulch materials (5): T1 = Control (without mulch); T2 = Water hyacinth; T3 = Rice straw; T4 = Rice husk; T5 = Ash. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications and the differences between means were separated by both Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DMRT) and Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% level of probability. Mulches showed significant effects on most of the parameters. In the case of variety, the highest grain yield (12.963ton per ha) was recorded from V2. Different organic mulch materials showed different values, the highest values were recorded from T3. Due to this (T3) mulch material. The water retentive capacity of the mulched soil was higher at all the stages of plant growth and ranked in the order of rice straw > water hyacinth > rice husk > ash > control. The highest grain yield (17.407ton per ha) was recorded from T3. . In case of interaction all yield attributing characters include grain yield (19.043ton per ha) was recorded from V2T3. So, KS-510 variety and rice straw mulch combinedly had outstanding superiority for morphophysiological and yield attributes in white maize over the other organic mulches.

The effect of mulch on properties of erosion sensitive soil using a wind tunnel

The aim of this study was to produce mulch by combining natural mineral and organic substances in order to reach soil stabilization and improve soil physical and mechanical properties in Koopal area. The effects of organic mulch (at 3 levels of O1: combination of 1% sugarcane bagasse biochar+0.5% gum Arabic+0.5% gelatin; O2: combination of 3% sugarcane bagasse biochar+1% gum Arabic+1% gelatin; and O3: combination of 5% sugarcane bagasse biochar+1.5% gum Arabic+ 1.5% gelatin) and MNF organomineral mulch (at 3 levels of MNF1: 1%; MNF2: 3%; and MNF3: 5%) on soil were investigated. The soil samples were incubated for 2 and 4 months and finally placed in a wind tunnel. Some physical and chemical properties of soil were obtained as pH=7.42, O.M%=0.223, and soil texture of silty loam. The obtained results showed that compared to control, application of the mulches increased soil organic carbon percentage (1.1%), mean weight diameter (2.47 mm), geometric mean diameter (1.27 mm), penetration resistance (370), shear strength (27.38) and tensile strength (0.8) significantly and decreased soil loss (0.10 g/m2/s), fracture index, soil texture index (62.16), and crust index (1.18) significantly (P<0.01) in both incubation periods. Effects of the mulches on soil organic carbon were reduced after 4 months. In mulch treatments, soil loss rate, mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter and tensile strength were increased significantly. In general, the organic mulch could stabilize the soil and improve the physical and mechanical properties of the soil.

Effect of organic mulching and spacing on soil properties and yield of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) cv. CIM Sammohak

Effect of organic mulching and spacing on soil properties and yield of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) cv. CIM Sammohak

Effect of Organic Mulching and Early Post Emergence Herbicides on Weed Dynamics and Growth of Unpuddled Transplanted Rice

Field studies were carried out in 2017 and 2018 at Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, to evaluate the effect of natural mulching and herbicides on weed dynamics and growth of rice. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three mulching treatments viz. no mulching, cover crop of Sesbania followed by green mulch and rice residue mulch (5 t/ ha) in main plots and five weed management treatments, viz. weedy, two hand weeding, post-emergence application of bispyribac Na 25 g/ ha, penoxsulam 30 g/ ha and tank mix bispyribac Na 25 g/ ha + pyrazosulfuron 20 g/ ha at 18 DAT in sub plots. Combination of main plot treatments and sub plot treatment allocated randomly and all the treatment combination were replicated thrice. The study revealed that mulching with Sesbania provided effective control of weeds, recorded significantly higher growth attributes and biological yield as compared to no mulching in both the years. Among weed management treatments two hand weeding resulted significant reduction in density and dry matter of weeds and increased yield which was at par with post-emergence application of penoxsulam 30 g/ha in both the years Treatment combination of surface mulching of Sesbania with two hand weeding recorded significantly higher number of tillers, as compared to other treatment combinations, it was at par with combination of surface mulching with Sesbania and post-emergence application of penoxsulam 30 g/ha and rice straw mulching and post-emergence application of penoxsulam 30 g/ha.

Effect of Organic Mulching on Weed Suppression, Yield and Yield Components of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

Sesame is the second in oil crop produced in Ethiopia next to Niger seed and it is also second foreign currency generator in the country. Weeds are the most significant problem in sesame producing areas. This research was conducted with the aim of reducing weed infestation and boost yield. The experiment was conducted in 2016 cropping season at Humera Agricultural Research Center in RCBD design. Growth performance, yield and yield components of sesame and weed data were collected. Less abundant and dense Rahynochosia malacophylla weeds (33) and (132/m2) were recorded at Sudan grass, where the most abundant and dense Rahynochosia malacophylla weeds (60.5) and (242/m2) were recorded from no-mulch plot. The highest sesame yield (695 kg ha-1) was recorded from Sudan grass treatment, while the lowest yield (225 kg ha-1) was recorded from no mulch. Farmers need to apply grass mulch to suppress weed growth and boost sesame yield.

The Effect of Organic Mulching and Irrigation on the Weed Species Composition and the Soil Weed Seed Bank of Tomato.

Mulching is a management technique to control weeds in organic and integrated tomato production. Our experiment was designed to investigate the impact of organic mulch combined with irrigation on the weed species composition and weed seed bank of open-field tomato. For three consecutive years (2016–2018), treatment of microplots included mulch only, irrigation only, mulch and irrigation combined, and the untreated control. Marginal microplots (bordered by the surrounding mown grassland) were distinguished from inner microplots to check margin effect. We collected soil samples from different depths and let the weed seeds germinate in a greenhouse. Germinated weed seedlings were counted and identified. The number of weeds, and time needed for weeding was reduced by mulching, temperature, sampling date, and the succession of the study years. Irrigation, on the other hand, had no effect on weeding time. Margin effect and year had the highest influence on weed species composition. Regarding seed bank, year and mulching had the highest influence. The importance of other variables remained low, with mulching being the strongest explained variable. Regardless of treatments, weed composition of the study area was transformed during the three-year study.

Influence of organic mulching on drip irrigation management of cabbage cultivation

Irrigation has been pointed out in recent decades as the major consumer of water. Considering the need for a rational use of water resources and the importance of mulching for planting, this study evaluated the effect of organic mulching (sugarcane straw) under soil water storage for cabbage crop development. This research was conducted at CCA/UFSCar, and the experimental design was a completely randomized design with four replications and two treatments with and without sugarcane straw. Water application was performed by a drip irrigation system and irrigation management was determined from data collected by TDR. The use of organic mulching did not interfere with cabbage productivity under greenhouse conditions. The straw presents efficiency for reduction of soil evaporation and, consequently, increases water-use efficiency. The soil cover made it possible to save up to 28.1 mm (14.5%) of the water depth.

Organic mulch can increase the survival of a weed biological control agent during laboratory mass rearing

ABSTRACTMass rearing agent organisms is a critical component to classical biological control programmes. Maximising survival of each life stage necessitates that ideal, stage-specific conditions are available in the rearing protocol. We investigated a method to improve pupal survival of Pseudophilothrips ichini Hood (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), a proposed biological control agent of the highly invasive Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae). Specifically, we tested the effect of organic mulch on the number of adults emerging. Either compressed coconut fibre, dried Brazilian peppertree leaves, or dried sphagnum moss were added to the soil surface of potted Brazilian peppertrees. Nothing was added to untreated control plants. Each plant was sealed in a clear acrylic cylinder and 50 s instar thrips were added. The number of adults emerging was compared between mulch treatments. The greatest number of adults emerged from plants with sphagnum moss, with no differences among the other mulches and the control. We confirmed that the majority of thrips pupated in the moss rather than in the soil. Relative humidity was higher in the mulch layers compared to the plant canopy. Sphagnum moss likely provided the most ideal harbourages for thigmotactic pupae and the humid microhabitat minimised desiccation. We discuss the use of organic mulches in ecological contexts and emphasise the benefits of organic mulch in captive rearing operations that involve insects with soil-dwelling stages.