Different mulches have variable effects on soil physical properties and plant growth. This study aimed to compare the effects of mulching with inorganic (round gravel, RG), organic (wood chips, WC), and living (manila turf grass, MG) materials on soil properties at 0-5-cm and 5-10-cm depths, as well as on the growth and physiological features of Osmanthus fragrans L. 'Rixianggui' plants. Soil s...

The technology of freezing saline water irrigation (FSWI) with plastic mulching has been regarded as an effective way to reclaim the highly saline soil in coastal plains, which enabled the growth of crops in heavy saline soil that was not suitable for any crop growth before. However, after long-term treatment with FSWI, the microenvironment of the soil has been found to be affected by the growt...

This study evaluates the watershed-scale effects of non-point-source (NPS) pollution loads caused by rice straw mulching and no-tillage applications in upland crop areas using the Hydrological Simulation Program–Fortran (HSPF) model. The study area is the Byulmi-cheon watershed (1.21 km2) of South Korea. Hourly rainfall, discharge and stream water quality data were collected for three years (20...

Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) is a major pest in East Africa causing yield losses of up to 14 metric tonnes per hectare annually. A study was conducted in Uganda to determine the effect of mulching on banana (Musa spp. L.) weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), movement relative to pheromone-baited traps. Three treatments were used to create different mulchi...

Proven techniques of soil moisture conservation were imposed in two consecutive seasons (2002 and 2003) under a rainfed alfisol ecosystem in order to investigate the physiological response of cowpea as the test crop. The impulsive variations in soil moisture status with reference to these techniques were found to influence the physiological and biochemical parameters of cowpea significantly. Mu...