Potato (Solanum spp.) in the hot tropics II. Soil temperature and moisture modification by mulch in contrasting environments

Midmore, David J.; Berrios, D.; Roca, José Manuel

doi:10.1016/0378-4290(86)90080-8

Cited by 32 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The improvement in growth and yield with mulching may be attributed to the lowering of daytime soil temperature and increases in moisture supply to the crop. This is supported by studies of Maurya & Lal (1981) and Midmore et al (1986) Figure 3. Nodule and plant biomass of soyabean as affected by wheat straw mulch during different cropping seasons.…”

Section: R E S U Lt S a N D Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Response of soyabean (<I>Glycine max</I> Mer.) to wheat straw mulching in different cropping seasons

Sekhon¹,

Hira²,

Sidhu³

et al. 2005

soil use manage

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The favoured temperature range for soyabean seed germination is 25 -30 8C and the crop is sensitive to water stress. In northern India, the crop is sown in the hot-dry months of May -June. Straw mulching can alter the soil's hydrothermal regime by lowering the temperature and reducing evaporation losses. A field experiment was conducted from 1999 to 2002 at the Research Farm of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana on a loamy sand soil to evaluate the effect of wheat straw mulch on soil temperature, soyabean seed yield and crop growth. Maximum soil temperatures at sowing depth, recorded during the 1-month period after sowing (seed germination to seedling establishment stage), were high under no-mulch, ranging from 30.6 to 48.6 8C, while mulching substantially reduced these temperatures by 1.4 to 12.7 8C. Mulching increased soyabean seed yield by 4.4 to 68.3% in different cropping seasons; it also increased plant biomass by 17 to 122% and nodule mass by 8 to 220%. Leaf area index, chlorophyll content of leaves and number of pods per plant were all increased. Seed yield improvement under mulch was negatively correlated with rainfall distribution (number of rainy days) and amount during the whole cropping season. The percentage increase in seed yield with mulching was regressed against the total number of rainy days and total rainfall in millimetres in the cropping season. Thereby 93% of the variation in response to mulching in different cropping seasons was explained by the distribution and amount of rainfall.

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Section: R E S U Lt S a N D Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Response of soyabean (<I>Glycine max</I> Mer.) to wheat straw mulching in different cropping seasons

Sekhon¹,

Hira²,

Sidhu³

et al. 2005

soil use manage

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show abstract

“…The improvement in growth and yield with mulch may be attributed to the lowering of daytime soil temperature and increase in moisture supply to the crop. This is supported by the studies of Maurya and Lal (1981) and Midmore et al (1986) who indicated soil moisture conservation and reduction in soil temperature by mulching may cause yield improvements in tropical crops. Gupta and Acharya (2002) reported that the application of surface mulch restricted the upward flux of water and maintained optimum soil moisture conditions for the crop for longer periods.…”

Section: Chilli Fruit Yieldmentioning

confidence: 79%

Effect of straw mulching, irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen levels on soil hydrothermal regime, water use and yield of hybrid chilli

Sekhon¹,

Singh²,

Sidhu³

et al. 2008

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

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In northern India, chilli is transplanted in the hot and dry months of February and March when the crop depends upon irrigation water for canopy establishment. Hybrid chilli may require more irrigation water and fertilizer N due to its higher yield potential but the problem of the depleting groundwater table in the region necessitates developing a technique for reducing water requirement. Rice residue mulching can lower soil temperature and reduce evaporation losses from soil. An experiment was conducted on sandy loam soil for three years to evaluate the effect of rice straw mulch @ 6 Mg ha 71 on yield, fertilizer N and irrigation water requirement of hybrid chilli. Maximum and minimum soil temperatures at 50 mm depth during 2003 were lowered up to 8.9 and 2.28C, respectively, by rice residue mulching. Mulching improved fresh red chilli yield by 2.4 Mg ha 71 and required 120 mm less irrigation water. Substantial yield increase with mulching may be attributed to favourable soil hydrothermal regime as evident from lower soil temperature, higher profile moisture (12 mm) and 13.5 Mg ha 71 lower weed biomass. Chilli yield obtained with 45 kg N ha 71 with mulch was the same as that of 75 kg N ha 71 without mulch. Ascorbic acid content decreased with lower irrigation frequency but was significantly higher without mulch.

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“…The present study clearly demonstrates that plant species differed in a number of traits that can influence ecosystem processes, including litter chemistry, litter biomass, live biomass, labile C inputs, and effects on soil temperature and moisture. All of these traits impact plant species effects on biogeochemical cycling (e.g., litter quantity [Aerts et al 1992, Hobbie 1992, soil temperature [Midmore et al 1986, Majid and Jusoff 1987, Das et al 1995, soil moisture [Van Vuuren et al 1992, Mack 1998, Mack and D'Antonio 2003, and labile C [Newman 1985, Wedin andPastor 1993]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, it is not surprising that an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that plant species effects on ecosystem processes can be better explained by considering multiple traits rather than litter chemistry alone (Shock et al 1983, Cheng and Coleman 1991, Verville et al 1998, Bottner et al 1999, Eviner and Chapin 2003, Mack and D'Antonio 2003. While plantlitter chemistry is clearly a very important mechanism by which plant species affect ecosystems, plants may also alter ecosystems through other mechanisms such as litter biomass (Aerts et al 1992, Hobbie 1992, labile C inputs (Newman 1985, Wedin and Pastor 1993, Marschner 1995, root turnover (Aerts et al 1992, Hobbie 1995, and effects on soil microclimate (Horton 1977, Midmore et al 1986, Hogg and Leiffers 1991, Van Vuuren et al 1992, Das et al 1995, Mack and D'Antonio 2003. Many of these other plant traits are more dynamic than litter chemistry, so the impacts and relative importance of these mechanisms can change over the growing season and with plant age (Eviner and Chapin 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Traits That Influence Ecosystem Processes Vary Independently Among Species

Eviner

2004

Ecology

142

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Most predictions of plant species effects on ecosystems are based on single traits (e.g., litter chemistry) or suites of related traits (functional groups). However, recent studies demonstrate that predictions of species effects on ecosystems are improved by considering multiple traits. In order to develop this multiple trait approach, it is critical to understand how these multiple traits vary in relation to one another among species. The ecosystem effects of traits that strongly covary can likely be summarized by one of these traits. In contrast, it will be necessary to determine the ecosystem effects of specific trait combinations for those traits that vary independently across species.In the field, I established monocultures of eight herbaceous species common in California annual grasslands. Plant species significantly differed in their litter quantity and quality, live biomass, and effects on soil labile C, soil temperature, and soil moisture. Species effects on soil moisture and temperature were only significant at the times of the growing season when each of these limited plant and microbial activity. Some of these traits correlated with one another, such as litter biomass and species effects on soil temperature during the winter. However, for the most part, plant species exhibited unique combinations of these traits. For example, species with similar litter chemistry had the largest differences in plant biomass, soil moisture, and soil labile C. Species rankings for many traits changed over the growing season (e.g., biomass), so that the relationship among traits varied seasonally. The independent variation of these traits suggests that predictions of plant species effects on ecosystems will likely be enhanced by an understanding of how the ecosystem effects of plant traits may vary depending on the combination of traits.

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Potato (Solanum spp.) in the hot tropics II. Soil temperature and moisture modification by mulch in contrasting environments

Cited by 32 publications

References 6 publications

Response of soyabean (<I>Glycine max</I> Mer.) to wheat straw mulching in different cropping seasons

Response of soyabean (<I>Glycine max</I> Mer.) to wheat straw mulching in different cropping seasons

Effect of straw mulching, irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen levels on soil hydrothermal regime, water use and yield of hybrid chilli

Plant Traits That Influence Ecosystem Processes Vary Independently Among Species

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