Agronomic importance of mulching in crop production: a review
As the population of Nigeria is continuously increasing, we have to adopt some means of sustaining our agricultural growth and it can be done through conservation farming. The best way out is the adoptions of the age long practice of mulching in our agricultural fields. Mulching has become an important practice in modern field production due to benefits such as increase in soil temperature, reduced weed pressure, moisture conservation, reduction of certain insect pests, higher crop yields, and more efficient use of soil nutrients. Plastics are the most widespread mulching materials, and especially black polyethylene is used almost everywhere due to its low price and has proved positive results in production, also in the fields the use of biodegradable films is increasing because they can be left safely in the field after harvesting, but they are not very durable and are much more expensive than plastics. This article reviews the published research on mulches. Different mulching materials have been used for different agricultural and horticultural species in different climatic environments, and results vary according to the chosen approach, growing practices, conditions and species, thus generalizations are hard to make.
Keywords: Agronomy, crop production, importance, mulch, yield
*Correspondence: orji.kalu@mouau.edu.ng, 07065223591
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