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‘Mulching – Important Intercultural Operation’ during crop production
‘Mulching – Important
Intercultural Operation’ during crop production
A mulch is a layer of natural or
artificial material applied to the surface of soil.
Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil,
reducing weed growth
etc. During intercultural operation crushing or loosing of upper surface of
soil also called natural mulch.
mulching in the crop bed, Culture's Story
What
Is Mulching?
Mulching is the process
during intercultural operations of land under cultivation. This process to
cover bare soil under cultivation to improve the condition of the soil
underneath.
Benefits
and advantages
1. To reduce weeds by
blocking sunlight which helps to reduce cost of production
2. By weed control
automatically reduce insect pests because weeds are host plant of insect pests.
3. Reducing water
requirements by preventing evaporation which helps to reduce irrigation cost.
4. To keep the soil
cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Which maintain optimum temperature of
soil
5. To modify the soil pH
overtime.
6. To defend the
soil from structural damage that results desertification, iciness or unfertile
land.
7. To maintains
soil wet therefore making nutrients more available to plants
8. Reduces soil
compaction which helps to availability of air for root zone
9. Prevents
crusting of soil surface for that reason improving absorption and percolation
of water into the soil
10. Reduces and
minimizes soil erosion because of rain and wind
11. By decomposition
of natural and organic mulch can also provide a supply of nutrients to the soil
helping in improving soil structure and tilth.
12. To make plants
less susceptible to soil-borne disease
Disadvantages of
mulching
• Due to warm moist condition diseases/pests are spread
of. In nursery such condition appears damping-off disease.
• Use of polythene mulch creates anaerobic condition that may lead to root dieback. Under such condition, severe oxygen starvation occur.
• Mulches of crop waste may carry seeds of various weeds which may spread
along with mulch in the cultivated field.
• Mulch in the arid region during rainy season, restrict seed germination,
grow damping-off disease and counter successful crop production.
• Low growing plants are suppressed by mulching.
• In sub-tropical area, dry mulches cause of fire hazard.
PURPOSE OF MULCHING
1. Conservation of
soil moisture
Surface moisture evaporation can
prevent by mulching. It, helps to create forces to pull water from subsoil.
Mulching further reduces loss of moisture by breaking up the flow of air across
the soil surface. Mulching minimizes soil compaction, and help ensure
permeability of soil, prevents excessive run-off, checks soil erosion and
consequently favors percolation of water in sub-surface layers of soils.
2. Regulation of soil
temperature
Mulching prevents relies of the heat
absorbed and thus maintains average soil temperature slight higher than that of
un-mulched soil all the year because it acts as an insulation layer over the
surface of the soil. During summer, mulches prevent direct hit of soil surface
and thus the average maximum soil temperature under mulched field remain lower.
Mulching has its role in minimizing freezing in soil which is a haunting
problem especially in temperate region. It minimizing almost equal to its
thickness, applied over the surface of soil.
3. Suppression of
weed growth
Well known to all that, almost all plant
species requires light to keep themselves alive. Mulches prevent light into
soil surface, without light the weed did not able to survive with their major
competitor of crop. Small, low growing and less vigorous weeds are very easy to
control by spreading mulch.
4. Prevention of soil
erosion
Mulches help prevent the erosion of
soil because it minimize areolation effect on surface soil. It also prevents
loss of sol brought about by rain splashes. Mulching improves physio-chemical
characteristics of soil if followed continuously year after year over a
particular piece of land and thus minimizes vulnerability of otherwise light
textured soil to soil erosion.
5. Control of pest
and disease
Many pests and pathogens are removed
from the host plants when certain kind of mulches is applied. Neem cake and its
kernel, cow dung, horse manure, poultry liter etc. are effective against many
soil dwelling pests and pathogens. The incidence of mildew disease is minimized
following moisture retaining mulching. Warm and moist conditions maintained
under mulch favor the growth of many beneficial microorganisms which may have
predatory role in counteracting the pest survival.
There are three types
of mulching as –
living mulching, Culture's Story
Living mulch:
Living mulch is usually a plant species
that grows densely and low to the ground, such as clover. Living mulches can be
planted before or after a crop is established. It is important to kill, till
in, or otherwise manage the living mulch so that it does not compete with the
actual crop.
Organic Mulching, Culture's Story
Organic mulches:
Such materials as straw, bark, and
composted plant branch and leaves, neem cake, horse waste, poultry litter, compost
yard materials as mulches can provide effective weed control.
Inorganic Mulching, Culture's Story
Inorganic mulches:
Materials such as black/silver color
polyethylene have been used as mulches in crop production systems. Many types
of stone, crushed rock also used as inorganic mulches. During weeding time crushing
and loosing of topsoil also naturally make a kind of inorganic mulch comes
natural processes. Now a day’s polyethylene mulch is popular to farmers in
developed countries. In many research stations in developing countries, polyethylene
mulch is being used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulch
https://heeraagro.com/what-is-mulching-agriculture-mulching-paper/
http://www.greengoldlandscapinginc.com/what-mulching-how-mulch-your-garden/