Ever thought of having a technique to handle all that weed in your orchard while plucking them out with your bare hands. Well, it is already practised in the agriculture field. You might have noticed your elders collecting all those dried leaves or hay from paddy fields and covering the ground around the plants. In summer this protects them from heat. This act of covering the ground with agricultural wastes or similar substances is called mulching
The Benefits Of Mulching:
It covers the ground where there is no cultivation. Hence reducing the weed population and competition for resources. It also provides the micro-climate around the cultivated plants. In the case of seeds sown this act provides the heat required for germination.
Types Of Mulching:
There are mainly two categories of mulching material. One is organic and the other is inorganic. Organic mulch consists of wood scrape, hay, dried leaves, sugarcane bagasse etc. Inorganic mulch consists mainly of plastic mulch, rocks, gravel, rubber, etc.
Organic mulches are decomposable but available in bulk and rarely leaves any residues. Inorganic mulches on the other hand are easy to handle and non-perishable and leave residues.
Hay and plastic are popular in their respective categories. Plastic again has a separate classification based on the colours in which they are available. They are available in black, white, grey, yellow and reflective material. Each colour with its own significance.
Black absorbs the heat and keeps the soil warm thus preventing the germination of weed seeds. This also kills the eggs and grubs of pests. Coming to the white and reflective type, they reflect the heat and acts in the opposite way of the black one.
Using mulch will reduce the need for pesticide application. It will make weed management handy. Mulching allows effective time and space management to the farmers.