EFFECT OF MULCH ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND YIELD OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
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Date
2019-02
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UHF,NAUNI
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The present study entitled “Effect of mulch on soil properties and yield of tomato (Solanum
lycopersicum L.)” was conducted at the research farm of the Department of Soil Science and Water
Management, Nauni, Solan during the years 2017 and 2018 with seven treatments viz. T1-BM, T2-SM, T3-TM,
T4-MM, T5-GM, T6-PM and T7-NM with three replications in randomized block design with plot size of 4m×2m
and spacing 90cm×30cm. Black mulch increased moisture (20.34 and 19.08%) at surface and (21.59 and 18.87
%) at subsurface depths as compared to no mulch in year 2017 and 2018, respectively. The transparent mulch
increased maximum and minimum soil temperatures as compared to other treatments at both 15 cm and 30 cm
soil depths. The porosity was found the highest (51.74 and 51.15 %) under grass mulch, which was attributed to
higher organic carbon contents (20.35 and 18.35 g kg-1) and lower bulk density (1.27 and 1.29 Mg m-3) at 0-15
and 15-30 cm soil depths, respectively. The plant available water was found significantly maximum (16.45 and
15.63 %) under grass mulch at 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depths, respectively. The availability of macro-nutrients
(N, P and K) in soil was recorded significantly higher under the black polyethylene mulch. The highest plant
height (172.2 cm), fruit per plant (28.33), fruit weight (62.2 g), fruit diameter (5.76 cm) and yield (63.6 t ha-1)
were observed in T1-BM. The yield under black mulched treatment was 40.08 per cent higher than the control.
The maximum water use efficiency (1.85 t ha-1 cm-1) was recorded under T1-BM which was 44.53 per cent
higher as compared to no mulch treatment. The maximum net return per hectare 9.46 lakhs with higher B:C
ratio (4.58) was found under T1-BM. The study has led to a conclusion that maximizing water use efficiency,
yield and net economic returns of tomato in mid hill region of Himachal Pradesh, T1-BM i.e. black polyethylene
mulch could be the best.
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