what is mulching and its advantages

what is mulching and its advantages-

Mulching is a process of covering the soil around the plants with organic wastes like straw, hay, dry grass or leaves, saw dust and crop residues, etc. or synthetic materials like plastic sheets. This method of mulching is of recent origin.

Advantages of mulching

  • It covers the soil without competing with the plants for nutrients and water.
  • It reduces loss of soil moisture by evaporation.
  • It reduces surface run-off and thus checks soil erosion
  • It prevents packing and compacting of the soil.
  • The decomposition of the organic matter adds useful humus to the soil.
  • The soil temperature is regulated by mulching which activates the soil microflora.

Disadvantages of mulching

  • Mulch tends to harbor pests and diseases like termites, rodents, fungi, etc.
  • Mulch may catch fire easily.
  • Cost of plastic film is high.


Criteria for selection of mulch material

  • The material used for mulching largely depends on convenience. The following considerations should be borne in mind in choosing the mulch material:
  • Effective, inexpensive and locally available materials to be used.
  • Materials that allow rain water to percolate into the soil but do not allow evaporation.
  • Materials that do not cause any harmful effects after decomposition or over a period of time.
  • Material like polyethylene sheets which not only prevents evaporation of moisture, but also suppresses weeds is economical and effective.
  • Considering the above factors, materials like saw dust, wood shavings, coir pith, etc. are to be preferred for mulching in areas having heavy rainfall as these allow the water to percolate into the soil, but in low rainfall areas the rainwater is absorbed by these mulch materials and hence may not be useful.
  • After selecting the suitable locally available materials, they are usually spread in basins around the plant stem in a radius ranging between 0.5m to 2.0 m depending on the crop, and to a thickness of about 5 to 20 cm depending on the material and its degradability.
  • Mulching with a single material is the usual practice followed. But mulching with different materials layer by layer can also be adopted, viz. one layer of dry leaves, one layer of sand/soil, one layer of straw and again a layer of leaves over which soil is applied to prevent flying off of the dry leaves as also to prevent damage by fire.

Precautions

  • Select the crops to be mulched with organic or plastic film and the type of material that is suitable for each crop to see that it is economically feasible.
  • Understand the proper methodology of laying out the mulch/film for different crops.
  • Select the type of plastic film depending on the purpose:
  • Rainy season – perforated mulch
  • Orchard and plantation crops- thicker mulch
  • Soil solarisation thin transparent film
  • Weed control through solarisation- black film
  • Insect repellent-silver colour film
  • Early germination film – thinner clear
  • Ensure proper fixing of the film to avoid damage.

Materials Required

  2. Organic wastes like coir pith, saw dust, hay, etc.,
  3. Plastic sheet/film roll.
  4. Scissors
  5. Labels
  6. Kudali
  7. Spade
  8. Seeds/seedlings
  9. Fertilizer/manure


Procedure for mulching with plastic sheet

Basins

  • Prepare wide basins of 0.5 to 2 m radius (depending on the age/ spread of the crop/plant).
  • Apply recommended dose of manures/fertilizers.
  • Cut the film according to the size of the basin.
  • Slit the film from the middle up to the centre making a circular cut at the centre.
  • Insert the film from the cut end (in the direction of wind) to position at the tree trunk in the center where the circular cut has been made.
  • Cover all the boundaries of the film with soil.
  • Make half moon-shaped cuts on the film at 3 or 4 places to allow water (rain or through drippers) to percolate in the basins

Row crops

  • Cut the film roll to the required width (depending on the width of the row/ ridge) and lay it all along the row making holes (at required spacing) for plants to emerge and cover the sides with soil.
  • Dibble seeds/transplant seedlings in holes.
  • Apply fertilizers/irrigation in furrows/unmatched area