Mulching materials as yield booster for sustainable mungbean production
2004
Kim, H., Researcher Assistant, Plant Ecology Laboratory
The effect of different mulching materials on mungbean production was studied. The general objective was to assess the ecological and economical effects of mulching materials in sustainable mungbean materials on the chemical, physical and biological soil properties and economically, to find the effects of different mulching materials on weed control and yield, and to identify mulching materials that are environmentally friendly and economically viable for mungbean production. The experiment was conducted at the Fruit and Vegetables Seeds Center, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines from May to July 2004. The initial soil chemical properties were 6.4 of pH, 2.0 percent of organic matter content, 0.10 percent of total nitrogen, 22 ppm phosphorus, and 370 ppm available potassium content. The soil microbial load were 8 x 104 CFU/g for bacteria and 14x104 CFU/g for fungus. Results revealed that plots with mushroom spent mulch increased soil organic matter with an average of 3.13 percent, nitrogen with an average of 0.16 percent and the highest number of bacterial count with 342.5x104 CFU/g. Use of mulch generally increased mungbean yield except rice straw mulch. The best mulching material for high yield production of mungbean was black polyethylene plastic film. The highest economic return was obtained from use of mushroom spent much with PhP7,036 net benefit when compared to no mulch. On the other hand, black polyethylene plastic film mulch and rice straw mulch registered economic losses of PhP62,320 and PhP10,142, respectively, compared to no mulch. Comparing biodegradable mulching materials and black polyethylene plastic film mulch, it was observed that mushroom spent mulch gave the highest economic benefit of PhP69,356.
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