Soil thermal and productive responses of biodegradable mulch materials in a processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) crop
Marta M. Moreno A , Alicia Cirujeda B , Joaquín Aibar C and Carmen Moreno A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Escuela de Ingenieros Agrónomos de Ciudad Real, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ronda de Calatrava 7, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
B Unidad de Sanidad Vegetal, CITA, Avenida Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain.
C Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Universidad de Zaragoza, Carretera de Cuarte s/n, 22071 Huesca, Spain.
D Corresponding author. Email: carmen.moreno@uclm.es
Soil Research 54(2) 207-215 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15065
Submitted: 1 March 2015 Accepted: 4 July 2015 Published: 5 March 2016
Abstract
Mulch materials of different origin and colour are available in the agricultural sector as sustainable alternatives to the use of polyethylene (PE). Mulching modifies soil temperature and consequently affects crop yields. This work assessed the thermal and productive responses of different mulch materials in two different geo-climatic conditions during a 3-year integrated field study on processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Two biodegradable plastic mulches (BD1, BD2), one oxo-degradable material (OB), two types of paper (PP1, PP2) and one barley-straw cover (BS) were compared with two control treatments: black PE and manual weeding (MW). Soil temperature variables (maximum, minimum and mean temperature, soil growing degree-days and soil temperature amplitude) and production variables (marketable and total yield, mean fruit weight) were considered. Thermally, PE could be considered an atypical mulch causing higher temperatures in the soil, but it is not associated with a higher yield. Responses of PE, PP2 and MW were independent of the geo-environmental conditions, whereas OB, BD1 and BD2 had similar thermal and productive responses to each other in different environments. Tomato yield was correlated positively only with the minimum soil temperature, especially when excluding PE.
Additional keywords: mulching, soil temperature, yield, polyethylene, degradable plastics, papers.
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