UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, DHARWAD

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, DHARWAD

DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY,

Seminar-I
On
"Polythene mulch - A management tool in sustainable crop production"
Mahantesh Hagari, PGS14AGR6435, Masters Seminar, AGR-591, Date: 11/03/16, Time:2.00 pm
Synopsis
For decades, farmers have been trying to use various materials such as dry leaf, paddy straw,
paddy husk , Jowar trash , saw dust, dry grass, dry sugarcane leaves, dry coconut leaves, coconut husk,
paper etc. for moisture conservation (reducing water evaporation losses) , checking weed growth, and
moderation of soil temperature.
Use of polythene mulch creates a kind of micro- climate for the plant, which is suited for
best performance by regulating soil water temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide enrichment and
increased microbial activity in the soil. Thus, mulching is the process of covering soil around the plant
root area with a view to insulate the plant and its root from effect of extreme temperature fluctuations.
All the available materials, though beneficial, were found to have inherent weakness and not
easily available in large quantity. However, the plastic films are easily available, easy to handle, transport
and lay. This leads to lead to use of plastic films as mulches. Now a days LDPE and LLDPE plastic films
are commonly used. LLDPE black colour mulch is most popular, owing to the twin properties of down gauging and better puncture resistance. While down gauging leads to availability of thinner film at lower
cost, the puncture resistance and opacity checks weed growth under film.
Comparative study of polythene mulch with other mulches
Awasthy et al, (2015), revealed that black polythene mulch significantly increased maize yield
(43.76 q/ha) over paddy straw mulch (40.29 q/ha), live mulch (33.78 q/ha), no mulch (weedy check)
(24.13 q/ha) and no mulch (weed free check) (38.58 q/ha).
Ghadage et al, (2005), reported that the plastic film mulch recorded significantly higher values of

growth, yield attributes and yield of seed cotton and stalk. Maximum net returns and benefit: cost ratio
were recorded by plastic film mulch over sugarcane trash (10 tonnes/ha) as organic mulch and control (no
mulch). The water-use efficiency was more in plastic film mulch.
Shahi et al, (2002), observed that polythene mulch in ground nut contributed significantly higher
seedling emergence (35.08 %, 61.25 % and 68.08 % at 8, 12 and 15 days after sowing ) compared to all
other organic treatments and control (without mulch).
Effect of colour and thickness of polythene mulch on crops
Somanath, (2008), reported significantly higher flesh root yield (3326 kg/ha) and dry root yield
(726 kg/ha) in black polythene mulched treatment among the different coloured polythene mulches in
Safed musli, And highest net returns and benefit cost ratio recorded in same treatment.
Subrahmaniyan et al, (2008), revealed that the dry-matter production and yield attributes were
significantly higher under black polyethylene-film mulch which gave the highest pod yield of 2.87 t/ha
compared with 2.21 t/ha by the non-mulched control. And net returns and benefit cost ratio were highest
under black polythene mulch compared to other coloured mulches and control.

Conclusion
Polythene mulching is a potential option for the crop production to conserve the water and
managing weeds and enhancing the production efficiency. However, higher initial cost of this
material is the hindrance in advocating this technology. While policy like subsidized poly-film
helps in future for improving the productivity and profit of farmers besides saving the precious
water and creating lesser pressure on ground water resources.
Polythene mulch shown yield advantage in most of crops, but found economical only in few high
valued crops.

Future line of work

There is a need for study on biodegradable , economically durable , puncture resistant and cost
effective polythene mulches
Need to standardize polythene mulching technology in sustaining agriculture productivity and
economizing water use under water scares conditions.

Selected references:
Awasthy,P., Bhambri, M. C., Pandey, N. and Patel, B., 2015, Performance of different mulches on yield
and yield attributes of summer maize (Zea mays) under Chhattisgarh plain of India, Environment
and ecology. 33(4A) : 1698-1703.
Ghadage, H.L., Pawar V.S. and Gaikwad, C.B., 2005, Influence of mulches on growth, yield, water use
and economics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) under irrigated conditions of Western
Maharashtra. Indian J. Agron. 50 (2) : 159-161
Shahi, V. K., Banerjee, S. and Nanda, M. K., 2002, Effect of mulching on soil temperature and its impact
on seedling emergence of groundnut. J. Agric. Physics. 2(1) : 9-12.
Somanath, (2008), Response of Safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) to NPK . FYM and mulching
in north east transitional zone of Karnataka. Ph. D, Thesis, Univ, of Agril, Sci, Dharwad.
Subrahmaniyan, K., Kalaiselvan, P. and Balasubramanian, T.N., 2008, Microclimate variations in
relation to different types of polyethylene-film mulch on growth and yield of groundnut
(Arachis
.

hypogaea). Indian J. Agron. 53(3): 184-188.