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World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 12 (3): 161-166, 2016 ISSN 1817-3047 © IDOSI Publications, 2016 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjas.2016.12.3.1910
Effect of Colored Polyethylene Mulch on Soil Temperature, Growth, Fruit Quality and Yield of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) 1
1
Tewodros Tesfaye, 2Endalew Tigabu, 3Yohannes Gedamu and 1Hayal Lemma
Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Mekelle University, Ethiopia 2 Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Rural Transformation, University of Gondar, Ethiopia 3 Department of Dryland Crops & Horticulture Science, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Abstract: The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different colored plastic sheets as mulching on the performance of tomato yield, quality parameters and soil temperature. The average fruit diameter varied from 38.57 mm (control) to 43.46 mm (Blue colored plastic mulch). Plastic mulches were superior over and significantly different from control considering the average fruit diameter. However, there is no any significant variation among tested plastic mulches. The variation within plastic was 42.94 to 43.46 mm. Average fruit firmness black and blue plastic mulches have above average fruit firmness as compare to control and clear plastic. Even if there is no significant variation among plastic mulches, black (4.102 kg) and blue (4.053 kg) could be considered the best one considering that such fruits are destined to long distance market where bulk transportation is required. Root length was found significantly different among treatments. The highest root length was recorded from clear plastic (75.36cm) followed by blue colored (71.03cm) plastic mulch. Both are not significantly different with each other. However, there is a significant variation between the clear one and the black plastic mulch and control. A 60 cm root length was recorded from black plastic mulch which is similar with blue and control. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that highly significant at P=0.01 variation among treatments for all parameters except primary branch number and stem diameter and plant height. Highest average temperatures is recorded under clear polyethylene mulch at 6:00am (19.6 °C), 1:00pm (22.9 °C) 6:30pm (25.3 °C) and the least soil temperature recorded was the control at 6:00am (14.6 °C). Key words: Mulch
Polyethylene Color
Tomato
Growth
INTRODUCTION
Fruit Quality
Soil Temperature
compared to black mulch [4]. However, color selection to that point had been limited to black, brown, clear or white. Introduction of colored mulch can also be the challenge to tomato producers; which color mulch bring about high production in tomato. Unfortunately, there is very little research work published which might help growers resolve this problem, because this was never been the issue of researcher in the country [5]. The advent of increasing water scarcity in this century will observe less increase in irrigated land availability for food production than in the past. To this end, both irrigated and dry land cropping areas will have to be developed or improved in future [6]. Therefore, efficient utilization of water resources is crucial for countries like Ethiopia, which has a huge water resource:
The increase in use of polyethylene mulch is due to its benefits when applied in the field: increase in soil temperatures especially in early spring, reduced weed problems, moisture conservation and reduction of certain insect pests, higher crop yields and more efficient use of soil nutrients [1, 2]. Studies demonstrated that tomato production increased by the application of polyethylene mulching. However, plastic mulching has been given little attention in Ethiopia, while crop production is being hampered due to an increased aridity [3, 4]. Studies also reported that color of mulching material has different effects on plants growth for instance, plants grown on red mulch has shown high production as
Corresponding Author: Endalew Tigabu, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture & Rural Transformation, University of Gondar, Ethiopia.
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yet their population is chronically food insecure. Micro irrigation system was found to result in 30 to 70% water savings in various orchard crops and vegetables along with 10 to 60% increases in yield as compared to conventional methods of irrigation. It is prudent to make efficient use of water and bring more area under irrigation through available water resources [3]. This can be achieved by introducing advanced methods of irrigation and improved water management practices. Irrigation in combination with mulch is one of the best methods, which can improve the water management practice coupled with tomato production significantly. Surface mulches have been used to improve soil water retention, reduce soil temperature and reduce wind velocity at the soil surface and arid lands. Surface mulches can also improve water penetration by impeding runoff and protecting the soil from raindrop splash and reducing soil crusting. To achieve a high-quality yield, the tomato requires high soil moisture during the entire growing (vegetation) period and moderate air humidity, which is associated with the tomato’s high transpiration coefficient [7]. Thus, irrigation plays huge role in its production. Taken into consideration the recent climate changes, which are predicted to become more prevalent in the long term, the irrigation needs of the crop are set to increase [8]. In such a context, more attention will be given to alternative irrigation measures (crop rotation, pre-crops, sowing structure, proper soil cultivation and fertilization, selection of particular varieties and sowing time), as well as to preventive, cheaper agro-technical options to combat the problem of draught and mediate its consequences. These measures will be particularly important for terrains with limited options for irrigation placing mulching as one of the options. Many studies have shown mulching to increases the fertility of soil, accelerates plant growth and fruit ripening [7]. Moreover, the wetness of the soil is retained for a longer time with mulching and the temperature regime is regulated. Weed growth is also prevented and biological activities of the soil are improved [9]. The overall objective of the study was to determine the effects of different colored polyethylene plastics on soil temperature, growth, fruit quality and yield of tomato.
Dryland Crop Science (DCS), Mekelle University, Tigray, Ethiopia. A 20 x 30m plot of land was plowed and 4 x 2m subplots were carefully laid out with 1m spacing between each block and a composite soil samples were collected from each main plot before any treatment was carried out. Then plots were thoroughly dug followed by application of fertilizer DAP only (recommended). Drip Irrigation system was installed at 30cm spacing from one another. Three different colors of polyethylene mulch 4 × 2 m wide having 0.23 mm thick namely black, blue and clear plus bear as control were overlaid on the plots randomly (RCBD) followed by irrigation of the soil for two consecutive days before seedling transplantation. Tomato seedlings 80 per plot at a spacing of 30cm between plants, 75cm between subplots and a total of 960 seedlings were transplanted during the calm time of the day (6:00 pm - 7:30 pm) and plants were watered every other week for 6 hours. The experiment was conducted from Feb to May, 2013. Data Collection and Analysis: five plants per sub plot, a total of 60 plants per treatment and three fruits per plant, a total of 180 fruits per treatment were randomly selected and carefully tagged to measure growth parameters, fruit quality and total yield per treatment for statistically determine the effects of three different colored polyethylene mulch and soil temperatures under each treatments were measured at 6:00am, 1:00pm and 6:30pm of the day. The Data were subjected to ANOVA using statistical software. Soil Composition: soil samples were collected from the entire plot before treatment samples were brought to Mekelle University soil science laboratory to determine organic carbon (OC), available phosphorous (P2O5), available potassium (K), total nitrogen (TN), organic matte (OM), EC-electron electrical conductivity (EC) and pH. RESULTS Data presented in Fig. 3 and Table 2 revealed that except average fruit firmness and stem diameter, root length and unmarketable yield, mean performance of plastic mulches were above average. All the plastic mulches have statistically similar effect on average fruit diameter, average fruit length, average fruit weight (Fig. 2) and marketable yield, number of fruit plant-1, secondary branch number (Table 2), TSS % (Fig. 4) and total yield. Overlaps were observed on average fruit firmness, root length and unmarketable yields. Plant performance grown
MATERIALS AND METHODS Experiment: Experimental plots were prepared on High Value Crop field owned by the College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of 162
World J. Agric. Sci., 12 (3): 161-166, 2016 Table 1: Soil composition of the experimental plots. Plot code
% OC
% TN
Ave. K (mg/kg)
% OM
pH
Temp.
1
0.816
Ave. P (mg/kg) 4.39
0.0775
1.8987212
1.4072
7.49
22.6
EC at 25 °C (dS/m)
2
0.781
5.37
0.0768
1.8987212
1.3461
7.65
22.1
0.362262
3
0.887
4.44
0.0788
1.8987212
1.5296
7.54
22.1
0.374826
4
0.905
8.56
0.0792
1.8987212
1.5602
7.58
22.2
0.229731
5
0.799
13.55
0.0771
1.8987212
1.3767
7.61
22.1
0.532892
0.234588
6
0.816
11.49
0.0775
1.8987212
1.4072
7.65
22.1
0.183011
7
0.834
13.82
0.0778
1.7529412
1.4378
7.66
22.2
0.20889
8
0.763
8.13
0.0765
1.7529412
1.3155
7.56
22.1
0.412505
9
0.745
2.98
0.0761
1.7529412
1.2849
7.57
22.4
0.30316 0.46332
10
0.870
15.18
0.0785
1.8987212
1.4990
7.43
22.5
11
0.887
14.91
0.0788
1.8987212
1.5296
7.17
22.5
0.446675
12
0.781
12.47
0.0768
1.8987212
1.3461
7.57
22.5
0.302688
Table 2: Mean vegetative growth performance and number of fruits plant-1 at the different mulch colors. Treatment
RL cm
PH cm
SD mm
N0 of 1° Branch
N0 of 2° Branch
N0 of Fruits/Plant
Blue
75.36a
51.93
10.2
1.1
6.4a
33.58a
Clear
60.47b
52.83
9.82
1.05
5.55a
28.96a
Black
71.03ab
52.5
10.87
1.05
6.133a
34.7a
Control
59.22b
48.33
9.58
1
3.7b
16.05b
66.5
51.4
10.12
1.05
5.45
28.3
Data labeled with the same letters are not significantly different at the P=0.01. RL-root length, PH-plant height, SD-stem diameter, 1°-primary, 2°-secondary Table 3: Average soil temperature (°C) at the different hours of the day during the experimental period. Time
Control
Black Mulch
Blue Mulch
Clear Mulch
6:00 AM
14.65
18.28
18.57
19.62
1:00 PM
18.25
21.104
21.65
22.91
6:30 PM
19.46
23.07
23.54
25.33
on bare soil showed the lowest performance as compared to plastic mulches. The average fruit diameter varied from 38.57 mm) (control) to 43.46 mm (Blue colored plastic mulch). Plastic mulches were superior over and significantly different from control considering the average fruit diameter. However, there is no significant variation among tested plastic mulches. The variation within plastic was (42.94 mm) to (43.46 mm) (Fig. 2). It was also observed that black and clear plastic mulches have above average fruit firmness as compared to control and blue plastic. Though there was no significant variation among plastic mulches, clear plastics (4.102 kg) and black plastics (4.053 kg) could be considered the best one considering that such fruits are destined to long distance market where bulk transportation is required. Highly significant variation was recorded between control and all plastic mulches for average fruit length. The fruit lengths from plastic mulches were above average. However, there was no statistically significant variation among plastic mulches though the highest length was recorded for fruit from blue plastic mulch (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1: Mean tomato fruit yield from all treatment. Bar graphs labeled with the same letters are not are not significantly different at the P=0.01. MFYmarketable fruit yield and UMFY-unmarketable fruit yield, TFY-total fruit yield. Average Fruit Weight: Highly significant variation was recorded between control and all plastic mulches for average fruit weight. The fruit weights from plastic mulches were above average. However, there was no statistically significant variation among plastic mulches though the highest weight was recorded for fruit from blue plastic mulch (Fig. 2). 163
World J. Agric. Sci., 12 (3): 161-166, 2016
The highest average temperature was recorded under clear polyethylene mulch at 6:00am (19.62 °C), 1:00pm (22.91 °C), 6:30pm (25.33 °C) and the least soil temperature recorded was the control at 6:00am (14.56 °C). Soil temperature under different mulches were higher than the control group though there was a comparable temperature values between the treatment group at each respective hours of the day (Table 3).
Fig. 2: Mean tomato fruit length (FL), fruit diameter (FD) and fruit weight (FW) for all treatment. Bar graphs labeled with the same letters are not are not significantly different at the P=0.01.
DISCUSSION Results obtained showed that the mean root length from the clear plastic mulch showed a significant difference from other colors and the control group. The result was also true for blue and black plastic mulch colors in which the result obtained is comparable to other studies [10, 11]. However, no statistically significant plant growth performance was recorded between treatments as also reported by [12]. Fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit firmness and fruit weights were not significantly different among treatments but were significantly different from the control group in which the results are inline with other researchers [4, 7, 11]. Total yield were significantly higher for the treatment group when compared to the control. It was also reported by [11] that tomato yields from plants grown on bare soil were significantly lower than those grown with black plastic mulch. Other researchers have reported significantly higher yield under black plastic mulch due to effective soil temperature, weed control and conservation of soil moisture [3, 5, 10, 13]. However, in the present study blue colored mulch produced higher yield as compared to the control. Field observations indicated that plants grown under both blue and clear mulches demonstrated more vigorous growth, flowered and developed fruits earlier and produced larger fruits than the control. Research conducted using different color mulches in other studies also demonstrated that tomato production was higher from plants grown on red mulch compared to black mulch [6, 14]. High levels of weed growth were observed for both the blue and clear treatments, contrary to documented benefits of increased weed control under plastic mulches however, as [15] reported complete elimination of weeds with the use of black polyethylene and indicated that the other colors allowed penetration of solar radiation through, hence, producing moderate weed density and biomass. In the present study soil temperatures were recorded for each treatment throughout the experimental period at different hours of the day to coincide with plant growth period. Highest soil temperatures were recorded under
Fig. 3: Mean tomato fruit firmness (FF) for all treatment. Bar graphs labeled with the same letters are not are not significantly different at the P=0.01.
Fig. 4: Mean total soluble sugar (TSS %) for all treatment. Bar graphs labeled with the same letters are not are not significantly different at the P=0.01. Marketable Yield: More than threefold marketable yield advantage was recorded from plastic mulch over the control. Like observed in other parameters, there was no significant variation among types of plastic mulches (Fig. 1). Root length was found significantly different among treatments. Though there was no significance difference, the highest root length was recorded from blue plastic (75.36cm) followed by black colored (71.03cm) plastic mulch. There was a significant variation between the clear one and the black plastic mulch and control. A 60 cm root length was recorded from clear plastic mulch which was found to be similar with the black plastic mulch and control (Table 2). 164
World J. Agric. Sci., 12 (3): 161-166, 2016
REFERENCES
clear mulch in all of the hours however, blue and black colored mulches showed comparable soil temperature [1]. As observed during the experimental period highest soil temperatures under mulches were recorded combined with high wind velocity at the hottest period of the day and yet plants did not yield to the unfavorable impacts of water stress or wilting due to high transpiration rate because of the availability of water from drip irrigation system. This clearly suggested how moisture contents of the soil were able to be maintained by mulch materials [5, 16]. It was indicated by [17] that black plastic alters the plant's growing environment by generating warmer soil temperatures however in the present study the clear colored mulch showed the higher soil temperature when compared to the black mulch. Report by [10] showed that black plastic mulches raise soil temperatures quickly so that plants can increase growth resulting in earlier and higher yields compared to bare ground production although this partially holds true for the present study. The highest temperature was recorded under clear though plant vigor was comparable with black mulch. Fruit setting is poor when average temperatures exceed 30 C or fall below 10 C [18]. Higher soil temperature under plastic means faster crop development and earlier yields. For example, tomatoes require a root temperature greater than 16 °C for good shoot growth. Black plastic mulch is the most commonly used because it increases soil temperature, suppresses weed growth, reduces soil water loss and can improve vegetable yield compared to clear plastic mulch which allows for greater soil warming than colored plastic [16, 19]. Soil temperature can be differentially affected by the type of polyethylene mulch with temperatures generally following the order: transparent/clear mulch greater than black mulch greater than white mulch as observed in this study which is in conformity with the observations recorded by [13].
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Research and Community Services office of College of Natural and Computational Sciences of Mekelle University for funding this research project. Their earnest thanks also extends to the College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Dryland Crop Science (DCS) for provision of a plot of land for drip irrigation systems and laboratory facilities for the success of the project. Finally, special thank goes to Dr. Solomon Kiros for his support during the research. 165
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