Intercropping and mulching in rain-dependent cotton can improve soil structure and reduce erosion

Blaise, D.; Manikandan, A.; Desouza, Nirmala D.; Bhargavi, B.; Somasundaram, J.

doi:10.1016/j.envadv.2021.100068

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…For example, mulching helps conserve water resources, reduce soil erosion, and minimize nutrient runoff, which can improve water quality. These environmental benefits can have long-term economic gains by reducing costs associated with water treatment or soil remediation (Blaise et al, 2021).…”

Section: The Economic Advantage Of Mulching Cropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing crop yield and conserving soil moisture through mulching practices in dryland agriculture

Demo,

Asefa Bogale

2024

Front. Agron.

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Dryland agriculture requires the efficient utilization of water resources and the implementation of water-conserving technologies. Mulching is a water conservation practice used in arid land areas to preserve soil moisture, control temperature, and minimize soil evaporation rates. Organic mulching minimizes soil deterioration, enhances organic matter, and boosts the soil’s ability to retain water. Mulching can help keep moisture in the root zone, allowing plants to receive water for extended periods. Mulching with composted yard waste led to higher soil nutrient levels, including phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and organic matter when compared to uncovered soil. Under plastic mulch, soluble nutrients such as nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), and fulvic acid are released as organic matter decomposes, enhancing the soil’s nutrient availability. Mulching has several advantages for dryland agriculture, such as reducing soil water loss, soil erosion, weed growth, water droplet kinetic energy, and competition for nutrients and water with nearby fields. This review article aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of ground mulching in water conservation. This is particularly important in arid regions where agricultural sustainability is at risk due to drought, heat stress, and the inefficient use of limited water resources during the cropping season. Ground mulching is essential for minimizing surface evaporation and hence decreasing water loss. This review research thoroughly examines the advantages of organic and synthetic mulches in crop production, as well as their use in the preservation of soil and water resources.

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Section: The Economic Advantage Of Mulching Cropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing crop yield and conserving soil moisture through mulching practices in dryland agriculture

Demo,

Asefa Bogale

2024

Front. Agron.

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“…Over the years, towards more sustainable cotton cultivation, several practices and technological innovations and advancements have been proposed and adopted by the cotton industry to enhance yield, minimize farm input use, improve disease and stress resistance, reduce drudgery in cotton agronomy, and encourage consumer acceptability of cotton which has moved from a merely 4% of global market share of fibers used for textiles production in the 18 th century to about 48% in modern times [9] . Among these innovations and technological advances are the continuous development of new varieties (cultivars) of cotton by multinational seed companies and researchers and the widespread adoption by the growers, improved mulching and irrigation methods, precision agriculture technologies leading to reduced input (pesticide/chemical) use, application of unmanned aerial systems (UAS)/remote sensing systems, image processing techniques, machine learning algorithms for improved soil nutrient and weed management and crop health, autonomous harvesters with various onboard module building capabilities, and the recently proposed small robotic harvesting technology to enable multiple-pass harvesting of seed cotton [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] .…”

Section: (A) (B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

<strong>Technological Advancements in Cotton Agronomy: A Review and Prospects</strong>

Adeleke

2024

Preprint

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Cotton is the most ubiquitous and profitable fiber with diverse industrial and domestic applications. Grown in over 100 countries, it has a global market value of about $40 billion and employs over 350 million people from fields to textile mills, contributing about 7% of total labor-force recruitment in developing economies. Cotton has an indeterminate growth habit and an extensive tap root system affected by soil physicochemical and environmental conditions. There is a consensus among experts that conventional cotton cultivation still has a long way to attain sustainability, which is essential if cotton will maintain its competitive edge over other natural and synthetic fibers like hemp, polyesters, and rayon. Despite several efforts already committed to growing cotton sustainably, sustainability has eluded cotton cultivation globally because of the intense farm inputs (freshwater, pesticides, and heavy-duty equipment) needs, especially in developing economies. Some of the technological advancements towards achieving the goal of sustainable cotton cultivation include the development of new varieties, improved irrigation and mulching and precision agriculture techniques, application of remote sensing and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) combined with image processing, and the introduction of autonomous and multi-purpose robotic platforms for growing and harvesting cotton. This review attempts to evaluate the successes already achieved by stakeholders in moving cotton towards sustainable production and identify areas where efforts are still needed to reach sustainable production and improved profitability goals for cotton with projections for future research directions.

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“…Since cotton is slow growing, it is possible to grow an intercrop (Blaise et al, 2020). Furthermore, growing legumes or an intercrop in between the cotton rows are known to improve the soil physical (Blaise et al, 2021a) and biological properties (Blaise et al, 2021b) leading to better soil health. Similarly, integration of stale seed bed technique and leguminous cover crops like Vigna unguiculata or Crotalaria juncea resulted in better weed smothering with reduced weed pressure and N contribution of 48 and 57 kg ha − 1 respectively (Nalayini et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indices for measuring system efficiency of American cotton and legume intercropping in additive series of 1:1 ratio at rainfed vertisols

Manikandan

Blaise²,

Nalayini³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background and Aims Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is grown at wide-row spacing and offers an opportunity to intercrop. We hypothesized that including a legume may improve the soil fertility and the system productivity. However, less is known about intercropping legume on rainfed vertisols. Methods During initial two years (2015–2017) field experiments were conducted for identifying efficient nitrogen (N) fixing legume [Blackgram (Bg), green gram (Gg), cowpea (Cp), soybean (Sb), cluster bean (Cb), pigeon pea (Pp), dolichos (Dc) and groundnut (Gn)] with high-density planting system (HDPS). Based on these results, a further study for three years (2018–2020) was conducted with the short, medium and long duration of shortlisted legumes to determine economic and operational feasibility. Results Legume intercrops reduced the seed cotton yield. However, cotton equivalent yield results showed that productivity of the cotton + cotton (Cc) and sole cotton (Cs), is lower (63, 30%) than legume intercropped cotton (CLi) excluding pigeon pea (Pp). The positive and higher values of land equivalent ratio (1.40–1.78) indicated the benefits of intercropping systems than of Pp (0.74 − 0.69) or Cs (1.00). Legumes also improved the area time equivalent ratio of 14–28% and 97% of land use efficiency than Cs. No competition and aggressivity was exhibited between legume intercrops and cotton. Conclusion These indices suggest that pigeon pea, dolichos and cotton are not suitable for intercropping in additive series with HDPS at the existing row spacing (1:1). Further, the indices with Bt-cultivars ensure the facilitative robustness of legume intercropping technology for sustainable production under rainfed areas.

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Intercropping and mulching in rain-dependent cotton can improve soil structure and reduce erosion

Cited by 17 publications

References 25 publications

Enhancing crop yield and conserving soil moisture through mulching practices in dryland agriculture

Enhancing crop yield and conserving soil moisture through mulching practices in dryland agriculture

<strong>Technological Advancements in Cotton Agronomy: A Review and Prospects</strong>

Indices for measuring system efficiency of American cotton and legume intercropping in additive series of 1:1 ratio at rainfed vertisols

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