EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MULCHING PRACTICES ON GROWTH, YIELD AND WEED CONTROL IN TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicon L.)
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Date
2016-02-08
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College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, HYD-30
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted during rabi, 2014-15 to study the “Effect of different mulching practices on growth, yield and weed control in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.)” at college farm, College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana. The experiment was carried out using tomato cv. Arka Vikas with seven treatments and three replications.
The study revealed that the weed density (3.73 m-2 and 5.60 m-2) and weed dry weight (2.37 g m-2 and 7.27 g m-2) were lowest with the use of black polythene mulch whereas control recorded the highest weed density (39.93 m-2 and 42.10 m-2) and weed dry weight (29.37 g m-2 and 74.07 g m-2) at 20 and 40 days after transplanting respectively, similarly highest weed control efficiency (91.93% and 90.18%) was registered with black polythene mulch whereas lowest weed control efficiency (48.95% and 50.21%) was registered with paddy husk mulch at 20 and 40 DAT respectively. Highest weed index (48.38%) was recorded in unweeded control whereas lowest weed index (3.33%) was recorded in reflective polythene mulch.
Among different mulching practices, black polythene mulch recorded the highest plant height, highest number of branches, minimum number of days for 50% flowering (33.47 days), minimum days for first fruit harvest, maximum days for last fruit harvest, highest number of flower clusters per plant (16.87), highest number of fruits per plant (32.47), maximum average fruit weight (57.37 g), highest fruit yield per plant (1.83 kg), fruit yield per plot (41.27 kg) and fruit yield per hectare (28.37 t ha-1). However, reflective polythene mulch has recorded significantly highest fruit diameter (4.97 cm).
Mulching practices did not produced significant differences on number of flowers per cluster, number of fruits per cluster, pH, EC and bulk density of soil.
Maximum mean soil temperature during crop growth period was found in black polythene mulch (22.6o C and 30.7o C) at 8 am and 2 pm respectively. Highest post-harvest available soil nitrogen (235.73 kg ha-1) and phosphorus (36.74 kg ha-1) were recorded with the application of reflective polythene mulch, while highest post-harvest available soil potassium (253.52 kg ha-1) was recorded with the application of paddy straw mulch.
Paddy straw mulch has recorded significantly highest dehydrogenases activity (8.62 and 6.17 μg of TPF released g-1day-1), acid phosphatases activity (121.81 and 92.15 μg of PNP released g-1hr-1), alkaline phosphatases activity (135.19 and 106.10 μg of PNP released g-1hr-1), highest bacterial count (7.49 log10 CFU g soil-1 and 7.34 log10 CFU g soil-1), fungal count (4.53 log10 CFU g soil-1 and 4.36 log10 CFU g soil-1) and actinomycetes count (5.42 log10 CFU g soil-1 and 5.26 log10 CFU g soil-1) at 40 DAT and after harvest respectively. Black polythene mulch has recorded significantly highest moisture content at 20 DAT, 40 DAT and at harvest (31.21%, 36.07% and 24.19% respectively).
Maximum gross returns (Rs 141850 ha-1), net returns (Rs 96122 ha-1) and B: C ratio (2.10) was recorded with the application of black polythene mulch where as unweeded control has recorded minimum gross returns (Rs 73,100 ha-1), net returns (Rs 37,372 ha-1) and B: C ratio (1.04).
Description
The study revealed that the weed density (3.73 m-2 and 5.60 m-2) and weed dry weight (2.37 g m-2 and 7.27 g m-2) were lowest with the use of black polythene mulch whereas control recorded the highest weed density (39.93 m-2 and 42.10 m-2) and weed dry weight (29.37 g m-2 and 74.07 g m-2) at 20 and 40 days after transplanting respectively, similarly highest weed control efficiency (91.93% and 90.18%) was registered with black polythene mulch whereas lowest weed control efficiency (48.95% and 50.21%) was registered with paddy husk mulch at 20 and 40 DAT respectively. Highest weed index (48.38%) was recorded in unweeded control whereas lowest weed index (3.33%) was recorded in reflective polythene mulch.
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Citation
Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad