Effect of Mulching on Growth and Yield of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) on the Coastal Sandy Land in Nghe An Province, Vietnam

Background: Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the oil and cash crops in Vietnam. However, owing to the lack of appropriate management practices, the production and the area under cultivation of peanut have remained low. Mulches are the key factors contributing to promoting crop development and early harvest and increasing yields. Methods: The experiment consisted of three mulch treatments, viz., plastic mulch, straw mulch and no-mulch control. All the treatments were replicated thrice in a complete randomized block design. Result: In the conditions of mulch, the plant growth parameters (germination rate, growing time, plant height, number of branches per plant), leaf area index, the number of nodules per plant, dry matter accumulation, yield components and yield of peanut was much higher than that of no-mulch control. Among the mulches, plastic mulch was found superior to straw mulch in the pod yields and water-use efficiency and moisture conservation, thereby can be considered as a reliable practice for increasing the productivity of peanut on the coastal sandy land in Nghe An province, Vietnam.

Effect Of Rice Straw Mulch on Surface Runoff and Soil Loss in Agricultural Land Under Simulated Rainfall

Installation of mulch on agricultural land, besides reducing weed growth, can also protect the soil surface from rain and erosion. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of rice straw mulch in reducing surface runoff and soil loss before entering the river. The experimental soil materials were similar to those in Sumber Brantas village, Bumiaji Sub-District, Batu. Runoff modelling utilized the Armfield S12 Rainfall Simulator - Advanced Environmental Hydrology System, with rainfall of 1 and 1.7 l/min. Land with rice straw mulch was compared to land without mulch. The land slope was adjusted to study area conditions, with mild (9%) and steep (15%) slopes. The three-Way ANOVA method was utilized for statistical analysis. In all the experimental runs, it was found that straw mulch effectively reduced the sediment yields that could enter the river area by more than 50%. The results of ANOVA analysis on sediment yield also showed that the significance value of the interactions between slope, rain intensity, and mulch usage was 0 (p<0.05). These results show that the difference in variations in these three factors determines the sediment yield that occurs. In the future, comparing straw mulch with other materials to cover agricultural land should be conducted.

Effect of integrated weed management on turmeric under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

A field experiment was carried out on silty clay loam soil, acidic in reaction, high in available phosphorus, medium in available potassium and low in available N during kharif 2017 at the Research Farm of Department of Agronomy, CSKHPKV, Palampur to study effective weed control strategy for this important crop. The results revealed that Alternanthera philoxeroides was the major weed constituting 16% of the total weed flora. This was followed by Cynodon dactylon and Echinochloa colona with 14 and 12% of total weed population, respectively. The count of Echinochloa colona, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Commelina benghalensis, Digitaria sanguinalis and Ageratum conyzoides was maximum at 120 DAP and there after it gradually decreased. All herbicide treatments brought significant reduction in the count on Echinochloa, Alternanthera and Ageratum over weedy check. The lowest count of these weeds was recorded in metribuzin fb straw mulch fb hand weeding and the maximum count was in case of weedy check. All the weed control treatments significantly reduced the total weed count and dry weight of weeds as compared to the weedy check. Amongst different herbicide treatments application of metribuzin @ 0.70 kg/ha fb straw mulch fb hand weeding resulted in significantly lowest weed count at all stages of observation as well as at harvest though this treatment was at par with metribuzin @ 0.70 kg/ha fb two hand weedings and treatments in which atrazine 0.75 kg/ha and hand weedings were applied with or without the use of straw mulch resulted in significantly lower dry matter accumulation by weeds as compared to other herbicide treatments. Weed index calculated at 120 DAP was highest with use of metribuzin @ 0.70 kg/ha and atrazine @ 0.75 kg/ha used along with straw mulch and one or two hand weedings proving effective as compared to other herbicides tested. From the present study it seems that mulching must be included in any effective weed management strategy for turmeric. Also among different herbicides metribuzin and atrazine are effective and their integration with mulching and/or hand weeding gave good control of weeds in turmeric.

Crop coefficients of Bt. cotton under variable moisture regimes and mulching

An experiment was undertaken for two years (2013-14 and 2014-15) on sandy loam soils of Junagadh (21°30’ N, 70°27’ E) to determine crop coefficients of Bt. cotton under three mulch treatments (M1- silver black plastic mulch, M2- biodegradable plastic mulch, M3- wheat straw mulch and C - control) with two irrigation regimes (I1- 1.0 IW/ETc, I2-0.8 IW/ETc). Actual evapotranspiration was estimated using soil moisture sensors. Results revealed that adjusted FAO Kc predicts higher value than sensor based Kc values at both irrigation regimes. Silver black plastic mulch recorded lower crop coefficient values at all growth stage of Bt. cotton compared to biodegradable plastic mulch, wheat straw mulch and control. Sensor based Kc ini and Kc-devvalues of silver black plastic mulch observed 72.2, 29.0 and 66.9 and 14.8 per cent lower than control at 1.0 IW/ETc and 0.8 IW/ETc respectively. Overestimated adjusted FAO Kc values caused a loss of 78.1mm and 66.5mm of precious water at 1.0 IW/ETc and 0.8 IW/ETc respectively. This study admonishes blind adoption of published FAO Kc curves for mulch conditions.

Influence of different organic mulches on soil hydrothermal and plant growth parameters in potato crop (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different mulching materials on soil hydrothermal environment and plant growth parameters for potato crop at field experimental station of National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur in the humid sub-tropical agro climate of Western Himalayas. The field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four mulching treatments; wheat straw mulch, pine needle mulch, rice straw mulch and no mulch in three replications. An increase in soil moisture retention ranging from 5.14% to 42% was observed depending upon the mulch material and depth of the soil layer in root zone. Mulching also reduced the daily maximum soil temperature up to 3.5ºC with an average temperature reduction of 1-2ºC during the period of tuber formation. Mulching produced beneficial effects on root depth, plant height, leaf area index and tuber yield. Mulching helped to bring about a yield surplus of 1.7-4.4 tonnes ha-1 over unmulched conditions and an increase in water use efficiency which varied from 13.5% in rice straw mulch to 34.9 % inwheat straw mulch.

Hasil Tanaman Wortel (Daucus carota L.) di Dataran Rendah pada Berbagai Ketebalan Mulsa Jerami Padi

Carrot is one of the vegetables that people like because it has many health benefits related to the content of B vitamins, vitamin C, and other substances, thereby increasing the need or demand, but not in line with the increase in the production of this plant. One of the efforts to increase production is through area expansion, and the lowlands are the target of its development. This study aims to determine the growth and yield of carrots grown in the lowlands by applying rice straw mulch. This research was conducted in a rice field area, in Bagek Polak Village, West Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara with an altitude of 26 m above sea level in July-October 2020. The field experiment with the experimental method was designed according to a Randomized Block Design with one factor, namely the thickness of rice straw mulch. (m0 = no straw mulch; m1 = 1 layer mulch thickness; m2 = 2 layers mulch thickness; m3 = 3 layers mulch thickness; m4 = 4 layers mulch thickness) was repeated four times so that there were 20 experimental units. The results showed that rice straw mulch had a significant effect on the growth and yield of carrots in the lowlands. The use of 4 layers of rice straw mulch was could increase the growth and yield of carrots by 2647.75 gr/m2 or the equivalent of 21,182 tons/ha. layer; expansion; production; vegetables; tubers