Trash Mulch Research Articles

Effect of irrigation scheduling and other agronomic manipulations on yield and water economy in sugarcane

An experiment was conducted during 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 at Main Sugarcane Research Station, Sehore, to evaluate the effect of different irrigation management practices and inigation (IW : CPE) ratio on yield and water economy of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). Yield, yield attributes and quality of the cane varied significantly. Jnlshokti 20 kg with irrigation in all the rows and full trash mulch with alternate row irrigation proved better than other practices. An IW : CPE ratio of 0.8 was better than that of 0.5. The net realization (Rsha-mrn of water applied) was considerably high under full trash mulch with alternate row irrigation at 0.5 IW : CPE ratio.

Soil temperature in a sugar-cane crop as a function of the management system

Air and soil temperatures are, by far, the most important state variables of agroecosystems. In the case of sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) they affect plant development, maturation and a series of biological and physical-chemical soil processes. This paper presents a comparative study of three management practices, applied to the first ratoon of a sugar-cane crop established on a Rhodic Kandiudox (Terra Roxa Estruturada) of Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. The management practices are: (i) interrow with bare soil; (ii) trash mulching, maintaining harvest residues (straw+tips) on the soil; (iii) soil with residues from burning the prior crop. Soil temperature was measured with digital stick thermometers driven into the soil down to the depths of 0.03, 0.06 and 0.09 m, meter by meter, close to the crop row, along an 84-point transect that covered all treatments and borders. The measurements were performed from November 1998 (right after the first harvest of the planted cane) to June 1999. The effects of the treatments on soil temperature were, evidently, more prominent in the period November/February when the plants had a smaller height, not closing interrows. Data that were collected on typical days, chosen along the development cycle of the crop, always from 11:00 to 12:00 a.m., show significant differences, mainly between mulched and non mulched treatments, reaching values as high as 7 °C for the average of the three depths. A comparative analysis is made between treatments and their effects are discussed in relation to the sugar-cane crop.

Organic Mulch Decomposition Kinetics in Semiarid Environment at Bare and Crop Field Conditions

Scantly available knowledge of organic mulch decomposition kinetics is important to determine the best choice of mulching materials, and their application rate and frequency for crop production and soil protection in arid area. The kinetics was studied in two field experiments. In Experiment I, it was tested for sugarcane trash mulch (6 Mg ha-1) with and without enriching it with Mussoorie rock phosphate (MRP) at 600 kg ha-1 (obtained from M/s pyrites, Phosphates and Chemicals Ltd., Dehradun, India) and with industrial glue waste (GW) at 4 Mg ha-1, a solid granular waste material of subcutaneous animal origin, rich in N (obtained from Glue Industry, Juglan, Haryana, India) at ratoon sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) on fine loamy soil for two years (1997-1998 and 1998-1999) at Hisar (29°058N, 75°388E, 222 m elevation). The GW and MRP were manually broadcast over the sugarcane trash mulch at the time of mulch application. Experiment II was conducted from December 1998 to April 1999 on sandy soil at Balsamand (29°078N, 75°288E, 225 m elevation), 35 km west of Hisar, at bare field conditions wherein three different types of mulches were tested: farmyard manure (FM), green neem (Azadiracta indica) leaves GM, and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) (WM), with two mulch thicknesses (20 and 40 mm). Wheat straw mulch (WM) placed at surface was compared with wheat straw mixed into 0.0-0. 10 m soil depth (W-mixed) for decomposition kinetics. The loss in dry weight of mulches was taken as a measure for mulch decomposition as a function of time (t). First-order decomposition kinetics was followed in all the treatments at varying field moisture conditions in Experi ments I and II. T he decomposition percentage in 4 months (d4) was 40 % higher at enriched sugarcane trash (ESM) than that at sugarcane trash mulch (SM). It was higher at 20 mm mulch thickness than at 40 mm for all the types of mulch in Experiment II and followed the order GMg WMg FM. The d4 value of W-Mixed was two times higher than that of wheat straw mulch W M at 20 mm mulch thickness. Mulch decomposition rate constant k was 0.0071 d-1 for SM and 0.0115 d-1 for ESM averaged over the two years. The k values were 0.0021 d-1, 0.0032 d-1, and 0.0037 d-1 for FM, WM, and GM respectively at 20 mm mulch thickness and it was 0.0066 d-1 for W-mixed in Experiment II. The practical implications were: (a) enriched dry mulch should be preferred over dry mulch for annual crops in order to enhance their nutrient recycling and decomposition, and (b) dry mulch should be preferred over green mulch in the perennial fruit trees for their long persistence and durability in order to protect soils against wind erosion in arid areas.

Organic Mulch Decomposition Kinetics in Semiarid Environment at Bare and Crop Field Conditions

Scantly available knowledge of organic mulch decomposition kinetics is important to determine the best choice of mulching materials, and their application rate and frequency for crop production and soil protection in arid area. The kinetics was studied in two field experiments. In Experiment I, it was tested for sugarcane trash mulch (6 Mg ha-1) with and without enriching it with Mussoorie rock phosphate (MRP) at 600 kg ha-1 (obtained from M/s pyrites, Phosphates and Chemicals Ltd., Dehradun, India) and with industrial glue waste (GW) at 4 Mg ha-1, a solid granular waste material of subcutaneous animal origin, rich in N (obtained from Glue Industry, Juglan, Haryana, India) at ratoon sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) on fine loamy soil for two years (1997-1998 and 1998-1999) at Hisar (29°058N, 75°388E, 222 m elevation). The GW and MRP were manually broadcast over the sugarcane trash mulch at the time of mulch application. Experiment II was conducted from December 1998 to April 1999 on sandy soil at Balsamand (29°078N, 75°288E, 225 m elevation), 35 km west of Hisar, at bare field conditions wherein three different types of mulches were tested: farmyard manure (FM), green neem (Azadiracta indica) leaves GM, and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) (WM), with two mulch thicknesses (20 and 40 mm). Wheat straw mulch (WM) placed at surface was compared with wheat straw mixed into 0.0-0. 10 m soil depth (W-mixed) for decomposition kinetics. The loss in dry weight of mulches was taken as a measure for mulch decomposition as a function of time (t). First-order decomposition kinetics was followed in all the treatments at varying field moisture conditions in Experi ments I and II. T he decomposition percentage in 4 months (d4) was 40 % higher at enriched sugarcane trash (ESM) than that at sugarcane trash mulch (SM). It was higher at 20 mm mulch thickness than at 40 mm for all the types of mulch in Experiment II and followed the order GMg WMg FM. The d4 value of W-Mixed was two times higher than that of wheat straw mulch W M at 20 mm mulch thickness. Mulch decomposition rate constant k was 0.0071 d-1 for SM and 0.0115 d-1 for ESM averaged over the two years. The k values were 0.0021 d-1, 0.0032 d-1, and 0.0037 d-1 for FM, WM, and GM respectively at 20 mm mulch thickness and it was 0.0066 d-1 for W-mixed in Experiment II. The practical implications were: (a) enriched dry mulch should be preferred over dry mulch for annual crops in order to enhance their nutrient recycling and decomposition, and (b) dry mulch should be preferred over green mulch in the perennial fruit trees for their long persistence and durability in order to protect soils against wind erosion in arid areas.

State-space approach for the analysis of soil water content and temperature in a sugarcane crop

The state-space approach is used to describe surface soil water content and temperature behaviour, in a field experiment in which sugarcane is submitted to different management practices. The treatments consisted of harvest trash mulching, bare soil, and burned trash, all three in a ratoon crop, after first cane harvest. One transect of 84 points was sampled, meter by meter, covering all treatments and borders. The state-space approach is described in detail and the results show that soil water contents measured along the transect could successfully be estimated from water content and temperature observations made at the first neighbour.

IMPROVEMENT OF SUGARCANE PRODUCTION IN TANNERY EFFLUENT POLLUTED SOILS

Four sugarcane varieties (Co 740, Coc 771, Coc 85061 and G 85335) were evaluated in a soil polluted by tannery effluents under different management practices Among the four varieties. CoC 771 recorded the highest cane yield of 124.92 t/ha and sugar yield of 13.61 t/ha with the application of 25 tha of coir pith. Coir pith mulching trash mulching and pressmud application were found superior over the application o amendments like gypsum and pyrites.

CHOICES OF SOIL CONSERVATION METHODS ON KWAZULU-NATAL COMMERCIAL SUGARCANE FARMS

A Principal components analysis and multiple regression techniques are used to analyse heterogeneity in 53 KwaZulu-Natal sugarcane farmers soil conservation decisions. Minimum tillage and construction of water carrying terraces are the most common methods used, whereas trash mulching is least commonly practised. Results indicate that farmers' demands for soil conservation, their demands for other attributes of soil conservation practices and interactions between practices are important to explaining their choices. Intra-farm variation in use of soil conservation methods is small relative to inter-farm variation. Education programmes, provision of information, and improving farmers' technical soil conservation skills have implications for aggregate soil conservation adoption, whereas the types of information provided, fire insurance programmes and soil conservation subsidies have implications for the combinations of practices adopted.

Soil organic matter and NPK status as influenced by integrated use of green manure, crop residues, cane trash and urea N in sugarcane-based crop sequences

A field experiment was conducted at Lucknow (26·5°N, 80·5°E, 120 m above mean sea level), India, during 1992–1995 to compare biomass productivity and crop yields in Sesbania aculeata (as green manure)-sugarcane-ratoon and rice-sugarcane-ratoon rotations at 0, 150 and 300 kg ha −1 N through urea to sugarcane, and 0, 75, 150 and 225 kg N ha −1 applied to the subsequent ratoon crop with and without trash mulch. The Sesbania-sugarcane-ratoon rotation added 14·48 t ha −1 biomass to the soil compared with 4·81 t ha −1 by the rice-sugarcane-ratoon rotation because Sesbania yielded a significantly greater biomass (11·12 t ha −1) than did the residual rootmass of rice (1·68 t ha −1) and sugarcane (2·64-3·83 t ha −1). Soil organic carbon, however, tended to decline after green manuring with Sesbania but gradually increased after incorporation of rice-root residues. Trash mulching of the ratoon crop upgraded the level of soil organic carbon and mineral-N status compared to no mulching. Sugarcane yields were significantly higher in the rice-sugarcane-ratoon rotation than in the Sesbania-sugarcane-ratoon rotation. A multiple linear regression model; Y = 8·075 + 0·675 (PN) − 22·45(OC) + 0·671(P); R 2 = 0·965, showed that cane yields ( Y) were influenced significantly by N uptake (PN), soil organic carbon (OC) and available P (P) status.

Effect of drip irrigation and mulching on tomato yield

Experiments were conducted on the fine-textured heavy soils of Western India from 1989 to 1991. These sought to study the effect of drip, mulches and irrigation levels on tomato yield. The treatments comprised various combinations of two irrigation methods namely, drip and surface flood, with and without two mulches of either black plastic of sugarcane trash. For drip, three irrigation levels viz. 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 fractions of pan evaporation (PE) were tried. In surface flood, the recommended irrigation schedule, i.e. 8 cm depth of irrigation at 100 mm cumulative pan evaporation (CPE), was followed. This study revealed that drip plus sugarcane trash mulch (STM) scheduled at 0.4 PE level was the best combination, which gave the highest fruit yield of about 51 metric tonne · ha −1 with 44% water saving. The highest yield of 163 kg/ha/mm of water used was also maximum in this treatment. In areas of high weed intensity, drip at 0.4 PE along with plastic mulch (PM) could be adopted. This treatment resulted in 95% reduction in weed infestation, 53% higher yield and 44% saving in irrigation water when compared with the surface flood without mulch treatment.

Recycling sugarcane trash to conserve soil organic carbon for sustaining yields of successive ratoon crops in sugarcane

Sugarcane trash, a crop residue constituting 10–20% of the weight of cane harvested, was either burnt, removed or retained as mulch in three successive ratoon crops in a field experiment conducted at Lucknow, India, during 1990–1994. Within three years, trash retained as mulch improved the soil organic carbon by 0·13% (on 0·55%), available N by 37 kg ha −1 and available P by 10 kg ha −1, thereby increasing the yield of the third ratoon crop by 1·9% of the yield of the first ratoon crop. On the other hand, trash burning reduced the organic carbon by 0·02%, available N by 15 kg ha −1 and available P by 16 kg ha −1, hence causing a 13·2% reduction in the yield of the third ratoon crop compared to the first one. In the second experiment, during 1992–1994, a first ratoon crop was grown with and without trash mulch in combination with N application at 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg ha −1 as urea (46·4% N). The optimum N dose, worked out from the quadratic response equation, with mulching was 230 kg ha −1 and without mulching, 241 kg ha −1. At optimum rates, yield response per kg of applied N was 328 kg with mulching and 263 kg without mulching. Mulching increased the N uptake and the apparent recovery of applied N by the crop by improving the soil organic carbon by 0·08% and decreasing the soil bulk density by 0·06 g cm −3, compared to no mulching. The concentration of NO 3 −N in the upper soil layer in both experiments increased due to trash mulching, compared to trash burning and no mulching.

Nitrogen Fixation in Sugar Cane Litter

ABSTRACT Average rates of N2 fixation in samples of trash mulch (leaf litter) under cane in Barbados, determined by the acetylene reduction technique, varied from 2 to 155 g N. ha−1 day−1. The highest rates occurred during wet weather, and lowest rates occurred in dry and/or old trash. Broadcasting ammonium sulfate on trash had an immediate inhibitory effect on N2 fixation. The activity is strictly oxygen dependent, and appears to be associated with Azotobacter and Azospirillum spp. In experimental systems, rates of acetylene reduction in mulched trash and in trash incorporated in soil increased with time reaching maximum values at 43 and 72 days respectively, and then declined. Total N2 fixation for both systems amounted to about 1.2 kg per tonne dry trash. Development of N2 fixation in trash retained in bags was markedly accelerated by addition of a small amount of decomposing trash, and was strongly inhibited by superphosphate. In one experiment, the rate of N2 fixation was increased 2.3-fold by additi...