Browsing by Author "VERMA, SUDHIR"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF MULCHES ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND YIELD OF NECTARINE cv. SILVER KING(UHF,NAUNI, 2018-10) AMIT, KUMAR; VERMA, SUDHIRABSTRACT The present study entitled “Effect of mulches on soil properties and yield of Nectarine cv. Silver King” was conducted at the research farm of the Department of Soil Science and Water Management, Nauni, Solan during the year 2017. Application of different mulch treatments resulted is an increase in the soil moisture at 0-7.5 and 7.5- 15 cm depths as compared to no mulch treatment. Among all the different mulch treatments, black polythene mulch (BP) mulch was found superior in conserving soil moisture as compared to all other treatments at all the soil depths. The total porosity was found highest under grass mulch (47.97 % and 47.86 %), which was attributed to higher organic carbon content (20.57 and 20.13 g kg-1) and low bulk density (1.26 and 1.28 Mg m-3) at 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depth, respectively. The highest mean weight diameter of soil aggregate (2.25 mm and 2.23 mm) at 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm soil depth, respectively. The availability of macro-nutrients (N, P and K) in soil was recorded significantly higher under the treatment of black polythene mulch treatment. The yield under black mulch treatment was 40.90% higher from the control, which might be due to better moderation of soil hydrothermal regimes by the black polythene mulch and consequently increased the availability of nutrients and moreover the plots were totally weed free. The highest microbial activity was found under grass mulch treatment, which might be due to higher organic matter content. Thus, Black polythene mulch was found to be most effective in comparison to all the other treatments in conserving moisture and increasing the yield of Nectarine cv. Silver King.