Two trials in different agricultural farms were carried out from October 2014 to June 2015 with the aim to assess the advantages linked to the substitution of the low density polyethylene (LDPE) films for soil mulching with the Mater-Bi ® biodegradable films in the strawberry cultivation under tunnel in Campania. Lifetime of biodegradable mulch and influence of type of mulch on the yield and the quality of cvs Sabrina and Fortuna were evaluated. Plants were cultivated on mulched, raised beds, high 40 cm from bottom soil. Mater-Bi ® film was 20 μm thick while LDPE film was 50 μm thick. The physical-chemical parameters (firmness, pH, total soluble solid content, titratable acidity and skin colour) and some bioactive compounds (total polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidant activity) of fruits were determined by three samplings effected in consecutive months (from March to May 2015) of the harvest cycle. Biodegradable film guaranteed an effective mulch along the whole strawberry cycle (9-10 months including the time of drawing up of film). Yields of cv Sabrina on LDPE was 18% higher than those on Mater-Bi ® while the opposite was detected in cv Fortuna (+10%). The physical-chemical parameters of fruits were not modified by the mulches. The content of the bioactive compounds, instead, resulted, in each time of sampling, significantly higher in fruits picked on Mater-Bi ® based film.

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In order to improve environmental sustainability of tomato cultivation and the quality of the harvested fruits, we tested (a) the digestate from anaerobic fermentation of buffalo slurries as partial replacing of NP fertilizers and (b) the biodegradable mulching to improve the nutrients and water availability for crop and to control weeds. In 2017–2018, a private farm of Campania region hosted a trial with four treatments deriving from the combination of two experimental factors: (1) fertilization strategy (standard farm NPK fertilization vs. digestate combined with reduced rates of NP fertilizers); (2) soil mulching (biodegradable mulching vs. no mulching). We measured fresh and dry aboveground biomass (fruits and stem + leaves), yields, fruits quality. Results pointed out: (1) combination of digestate with reduced rates of NP fertilizers did not decrease yields compared to complete mineral fertilization; (2) yields were improved in 2017 by synergic effects of soil mulching and combination of digestate and reduced rates of NP fertilizers; (3) in both the years, digestate combined with reduced rates of NP fertilizers and soil mulching determined the significant improving of fruits quality parameters interesting the processing industry, namely, fruit color, and firmness, total soluble solids, titratable acidity while antioxidant activity, contents of ascorbic acid, polyphenols, flavonoids, and lycopene showed responses variable with year or cultivar.

In a farm devoted to the production of fresh-cut leafy vegetables located in Eboli (Salerno), it was carried out a trial to compare the effects on crops and soil organic carbon (SOC) of biowaste compost, olive pomace compost, buffalo manure applied to soil in two doses (15 and 30 t ha⁻¹ fresh weight). The amendments were tested in order to start in defining a feasible strategy for the recovery/maintenance of soils in degradation due to the organic matter depletion triggered by the intensive soil tillage and the lack of organic matter returned to soil. In the year following the soil amendment, it was studied the crop sequence: rocket-basil-rocket. Analysis of nitrates concentration in leaves of rocket was carried out on samples of all the treatments picked up in the two cycles of rocket. Along the year, we observed that the higher yields promoted in the first six months (May-September) from the dose 15 t ha⁻¹, were obtained with the dose 30 t ha⁻¹ in the successive six months (November-May). This was due, probably, to the larger stock of total N supplied with dose 30 and its release in time. Buffalo manure amendment showed a higher quickness than composts in the supplying mineral nitrogen to the first crops. On the other hand, nitrates in leaves of rocket exceeded, more frequently, the limits fixed in EU Regulation n. 1258/2011 in the plots amended with buffalo manure. Instead, the treatments with olive pomace compost showed to exceed rarely the EU limits. Under tunnel, the intensive management based on 4-5 crop cycles per year and as much soil tillage, appeared the first cause to explain the lack of significant variation in SOC of plots treated with organic improvers after one year from their distribution. This result let us to suppose the need to study some modifications of the standard farm management in order to reduce the number of soil tillage in a year and, as a consequence, the main stress causing the high carbon mineralisation rate in soil under tunnel.

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic mulching films have an important function, but at the end of their lifetime pose an economic and environmental problem in terms of their removal and disposal. Biodegradable mulching films represent an alternative to LDPE with the potential to avoid these environmental issues. In this preliminary study, we employed a biodegradable film based on Mater-Bi® (MB) in comparison with low-density polyethylene to assess their effect on the yield and particular quality traits (organoleptic and nutraceutical composition of the fruits) of muskmelon (cv Pregiato) grown on soils with different textures (clay–loam—CL and sandy loam—SL) in two private farms in South Italy. Soil temperature under the mulch was also measured. During the monitored periods, mean soil temperature under LDPE was higher (about 1.3 °C) than that under the biodegradable film and was higher in SL soil than in CL soil, at 25.5° and 24.2 °C, respectively. However, the biodegradable film was able to limit the daily temperature fluctuation, which was 1.7 °C in both soils compared with 2.3 °C recorded for LDPE. Fruit yields were higher with MB film than LDPE (+9.5%), irrespective of soil texture. MaterBi® also elicited increases in total soluble solids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity compared with LDPE films: 13.3%, 22.4%, 27.2%, and 24.6%, respectively. Color parameters of flesh, namely brightness, chroma, and hue angle were better in fruits grown on LDPE. Our findings suggest that Mater-Bi® based biodegradable mulching film is a potentially valid alternative to traditional LDPE, particularly for obtaining the agronomical benefits outlined above and for promoting environmental sustainability due to its favourable biodegradable properties.

This paper deals with the introduction in tunnel-greenhouses of sweet sorghum cultivated in short, summer cycle as green manure with the aim to amend soils with biomass grown on farm. This practice has been spreading in tunnels of Sele river Valley (Salerno, Italy) where baby leaf crops are cultivated in numerous cycles (up to 5-7) per year. Three sorghum varieties for forage or biomass (Goliath, BMR 201, and BMR 333) were cultivated in two farms at Eboli and San Marzano sul Sarno with the aim of studying their responses in term of fresh and dry aboveground biomass yielded, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of the biomass incorporated in soil, and C balance in amended soils after one year of ordinary cash crop sequences. No differences, with regard to all the parameters measured, were pointed out among the tested varieties in each site. The sorghum cycle lasted 45 days at Eboli, yielding on average 98 and 13 t ha -1 of fresh and dry biomass, respectively; soil biomass incorporation supplied on average 5.8 t ha -1 of organic C and 273 kg ha -1 of total N. In the farm of San Marzano, sorghum cycle lasted 68 days, yielding 116 and 18 t ha -1 of fresh and dry biomass, respectively; soil biomass incorporation supplied on average 8 t ha -1 of organic C and 372 kg ha -1 of total N. After one year, the plots amended with sorghum biomass showed a soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration not different from the starting point, while SOC decreased in fallow plots. At Eboli, initial SOC content was 12.3 g kg -1 , but one year later it resulted 12.3, 12.8, 12.2 and 11.3 g kg -1 in BMR 201, BMR 333, Goliath and control plots, respectively. At San Marzano, initial SOC content was 11.4 g kg -1 , but one year later it resulted 11, 12, 10.7 and 10.5 g kg -1 in BMR 201, BMR 333, Goliath and control plots, respectively. The annual C balance put in evidence that the green manure with sorghum biomass caused SOC losses higher than those detected in fallow plots. This let us suppose a prime effect in boosting the soil microbial C mineralisation. Only cv BMR 333 in the Eboli trial pointed out a positive SOC change of 1.8 t ha -1 . Further studies are requested to better understand the real efficacy of sorghum cover crop in soil amendment under tunnels devoted to intensive vegetable crop sequence.

In the main strawberry areas of Southern Italy, cultivation is carried out by transplanting plants on raised beds (30–40 cm from ground level), mulched with black polyethylene (PE). This technique has becoming increasingly expensive due to the growing prices of plastic mulches, the cost to remove them at the end of crop cycle, and the difficulty to dispose of black, dirty plastic films. The main objective of this research was the replacement of PE mulch with a new biodegradable mulching film Mater-Bi®-based (Novamont), characterized by an increased permanence in the field designed for long crop life. In 2021, two Mater-Bi-based, black, 18 μm thick mulching films were tested under tunnel: N5 as innovative film and N18 as commercial standard film. Black PE film, 50 μm thick was the control. Strawberry cultivars ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Elide’ were cropped on the three mulching films according to a split plot design with four replications. Harvests lasted from March to June 2021. Cvs Sabrina and Elide yielded around 40 t ha−1, while the mean effect of mulching films did not point out differences between the biodegradable mulches and PE. In 4 out of 12 harvests we analyzed samples of fruits to assess the influence of mulches on the contents of °Brix, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, and anthocyanins. On average, °Brix was clearly improved in fruits on PE compared to biodegradable films, while all the other qualitative traits resulted in being more dependent on the cultivars and times of sampling effects. Overall, biodegradable mulches are a viable alternative to PE mulch, and the innovative N5 film appeared promising for the enhancement of durability of soil coverage in a long-lasting cycle.