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Effects of vegetative mulches on growth of indigenous crops in the Kingdom of Tonga

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/10407/
https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12398
 
Title Effects of vegetative mulches on growth of indigenous crops
in the Kingdom of Tonga
 
Creator Manu, V
Whitbread, A M
Blair, G
 
Subject Soil Fertility
Soil
 
Description As in many areas of the developing world, intensification of agriculture in Tonga, and other Pacific
Islands, has put increased pressure on the soil resource. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate
the effect of mulch on the growth and yield of two important food and fibre crops. The first was
conducted on sloping land to evaluate the effect of guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) mulch and
hedgerows on taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] yield, and in controlling soil erosion. The second
compared the response of paper mulberry [Broussonetia papyrifera (L) Ventenot] to different
management regimes of a grass fallow. Thick vegetative mulch increased taro corm yield by 81% and
reduced soil loss by 50% compared to local farmer practice, and the soil loss from taro with mulch
was comparable to the perennial cash hedgerow treatment. Mulch increased paper mulberry bark
yield by 30% compared to the non-mulch control. Comparative economic analysis showed that
increased net profit in the mulched treatments compared to the non-mulched control was T$2660/ha
for taro and T$12 108/ha for paper mulberry. Considering that mulch is readily available to many
farmers throughout the Pacific Islands and elsewhere in the tropics, it is recommended as a
sustainable practice for crop production.
 
Publisher British Society of Soil Science
 
Date 2018
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/10407/1/Manu_et_al-2018-Soil_Use_and_Management.pdf
Manu, V and Whitbread, A M and Blair, G (2018) Effects of vegetative mulches on growth of indigenous crops in the Kingdom of Tonga. Soil Use and Management (TSI). pp. 1-7. ISSN 1475-2743