Vol. 10, Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Kalpana Choudhary and Jitendra Singh

Abstract:
The field experiment on influence of various mulches on soil properties and growth of one year old sweet orange plants was conducted for two consecutive years during April, 2018 to March, 2020 at the Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar. The experiment consisting of five mulches (no mulch, black polythene mulch, transparent polythene mulch, coriander straw mulch and dry grass mulch) was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The study revealed that growth attributes of plants being significantly higher with black polythene mulch whereas the growth of plants recorded lower without mulching. The maximum per cent increase in scion girth and number of nodes shoot^-1 were recorded with black polythene mulch. Similarly, analysis of soil physical properties indicated better moderation in soil pH (7.25), electrical conductivity (0.39 dSm^-1), bulk density (1.33 mg.m^-3), besides obvious increase in porosity (49.93%) and water holding capacity (43.67%) as compared to other treatments in soils of rhizosphere of sweet orange orchard soil with black polythene mulch.