A study was carried out to determine the effects of different mulch materials on plant growth, some quality properties and yield in melon cultivars in high altitude environmental condition. Clear mulch application affected more plant growth than the other applications. Fruit width, fruit length, dry matter in fruit, total soluble solid, color, husk thickness, fruit fresh thickness, fruit firmne...

Cotton is the most important natural fiber source for the textile industry world-wide. It is also an alternative of the man-made petroleum-based “synthetic fibers” providing an advantage for a sustainable environment. Cotton is formed by developing seed of several Gossypium species, which are mainly grown as an important cash crop in more than 70 countries including USA, India, China and Uzbeki...

The soil water supply is the main factor that limits dryland crop production in China. In a three-year field experiment at a dryland farming experimental station, we evaluated the effects of various straw mulch practices on soil water storage, grain yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum). Field experiments were conducted with six different mulch combinations (...

Intensive agricultural practices in farming systems in eastern Australia have been identified as a contributor to the poor runoff water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). A field investigation was carried out to measure the off-farm water quality and productivity in a coastal farming system in northeastern Australia. Two vegetable crops (capsicum and zucchini) were grown in summer 2...

Agroforestry can increase the sequestration of carbon (C) in soils of tropical agroecosystems through increased litter and tree pruning inputs. Decomposition of these inputs is a key process in the formation of soil organic matter and in nutrient cycling. Our objectives were to study decay of tree pruning mulch and effects on soil C and N in a shaded coffee agroecosystem in Hawaii. Chipped tree...

Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), management is constrained, in large part, by polydomy where nestmates are distributed extensively across urban landscapes, particularly within mulch. Management with trap-mulching is a novel approach derived from trap-cropping where ants are repelled from a broad domain of nest sites to smaller defined areas, which are subsequently treated with insectic...

Introduction ............................................................................................................................2 Organic Farming & the Tillage Dilemma .........................................................................3 Mulch Tillage .........................................................................................................................5 Ridge Ti...

A study was conducted to evaluate the use of reflective mulch and host plant resistance for the management of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), in watermelon [Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus (Thunberg) Matsum & Nakai]. Whitefly abundance data were collected under both greenhouse (caged and uncaged) and field conditions. Consistently, a reflective mulc...

BACKGROUND Greening or huanglongbing (HLB) is a debilitating disease of citrus caused by Candidatus Liberibactor asiaticus and transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri. HLB now occurs worldwide in all major citrus growing regions except the Mediterranean and Australia. Management relies principally on insecticidal control of the ACP vector, but is insufficient, even for y...