Effect of Mulching on Economic Yield of Strawberry (Fragaria X Ananassa Duch) Cv. Chandler under Alfisols of Nagaland ISSN

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1 Effect of Mulching on Economic Yield of Strawberry (Fragaria X Ananassa Duch) Cv. Chandler under Alfisols of Nagaland ISSN D Rhakho Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences & Rural Development, Nagaland University, Medziphema, Nagaland C S Maiti Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences & Rural Development, Nagaland University, Medziphema, Nagaland Sentirenla Jamir Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences & Rural Development, Nagaland University, Medziphema, Nagaland Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of mulching on growth, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Chandler. Use of black polyethylene and organic mulches were taken as the main factors. Mulching materials, viz., blue, black and transparent polyethylene, paddy straw and saw dust were laid out in Randomized Block Design replicated four times. Among the various mulching materials used during the study, paddy straw and black polythene mulches were found most suitable and resulted in higher fruit yield( q/ha and 217 q/ha) respectively, compared to cow dung(92.25 q/ha). Quality parameters of the fruit such as TSS, ascorbic acid content, were also found to be influenced by the various mulch materials. Further laboratory analysis of fruit revealed highest total sugar (6.14%), reducing sugar (3.14%) and non-reducing sugar (2.99%) under black polythene mulch. Economics of strawberry cultivation by the use of various mulch materials were also evaluated. Among the treatments, paddy straw mulch gave the highest net benefit-cost ratio (2.27) followed by black polythene mulch (2.02) as compared to dry cow dung (0.36).

2 1. Introduction: Strawberry (Fragria X ananassa Duch) is one of the most delicious, refreshing and nutritious fruit cherished in garden with a distinct and pleasant aroma and delicate flavour. It has a unique place among the cultivated barriers due to its wide adoption to climate and soils and it can be made available round the year. With the introduction of day neutral cultivars, its cultivation has spread to tropical and sub tropical zones. Owing to wide climatic and soil adaptations, high returns and its tremendous potentiality, cultivation of strawberry can be extended to other suitable areas having assured irrigation and transport facilities. The practice of applying mulching to soil is as old as agriculture itself. Use of mulching materials of organic origin is also known to be beneficial through their contribution to supply of most of the plant nutrient elements and organic matter in the soil. Use of plastics as mulch material has the greatest benefits which raises the soil temperature in the planting bed, to promote faster crop development and earlier harvest at about 7 to 14 days. Moreover, the edible products from a mulched plot are cleaner and less subject to rots because the soil is not splashed on the plant. This provides excellent root growth throughout the prepared beds (Martins and Wesatphalen, 1983). During winter, the crop has to be protected from frost and low temperature for higher productivity and use of low plastic tunnels has been found beneficial (Lamarrel et al., 1996). Similarly, mulching is one of the essential practices in strawberry cultivation for soil moisture conservation, weed control, regulation of soil temperature etc. Mulches also modify the micro-climate, alter the environment of soil microbes, modify soil moisture regimes and properties associated with it and soil temperature in the root zone, improve the rooting environment and promote the soil productivity. It has been observed that different mulches with varying optical properties affect the degree of soil warming, owing to insulation and energy reflection, with light-coloured material like paddy/ wheat straw, energy reflection may be more than from bare soil surface. The significant increase in the leaf RWC by the use of mulches might be due to conservation of soil moisture by the mulches which ultimately increased the uptake of water from soil and kept the cells turgid. Bhattacharya and Rao (1985) reported the significant increase in the yield attributing characters due to the application of mulches. He also reported that soil environment particularly soil moisture and temperature etc. were significantly increased compared to control plots which increased availability of plant nutrients and leads to better uptake of moisture and nutrients by the plants resulting in better vegetative growth and development. Many workers have studied the feasibility of mulching on strawberry to find out the effect of International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 164

3 different mulch materials on strawberry yield and quality of fruits but no such type of work has been done under foot hill condition of Nagaland condition so far though it has suitable climatic conditions and better scope for economic yield. Looking at all these aspects, the present investigation was carried out to study the effect of various mulches on growth and yield of strawberry cv. Chandler; analysis of economics of strawberry cultivation by the use of various mulch materials under foot hill condition of Nagaland at Horticultural Experimental Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural development, Medziphema Campus. 2. Materials And Methods: The present investigation entitled To study the effect of various mulching materials on production of strawberry (Fragria X ananassa Duch) cv. Chandler, was carried out at Horticultural Experimental Farm, School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development, Medziphema Campus, Nagaland. The experimental plots were laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with various mulching materials viz.,blue, black and Transparent polyethylene films (60 microns), paddy straw and saw-dust was replicated four times. The observations are recorded on crown height, crown spread, number of runners/plant, and number of leaves / plant, days taken to flowering, days taken for ripening, fruit size, fruit weight, fruit yield / plant and yield / hectare (ha) by following standard procedural measures. Regarding quality attributes of fruits viz, Total Soluble Solids, tritable acidity, total sugar, reducing sugar, non reducing sugar were estimated by using standard method of A.O.A.C (1984) and ascorbic acid content was estimated by visual titration method of 2,6- Dichlorophenol Indophenol dye as suggested by Sadasivan and Manikan (1992). The strawberry runners were planted at 40 cm X 60 cm distance. Prior to planting, the experimental plots were treated with Trichoderma viridii and were incorporated with well rotten poultry kg per plot (1 m X 1 m). Other necessary cultural practices along with plant protection measures were taken care of for all the treatments as and when required. 3. Results & Discussion: The results of the present investigation on the effect of mulches on strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa) cv. Chandler, revealed that mulches have significant influence on its growth, International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 165

4 development, yield and quality. When the association of fruit yield with various morphological traits of strawberry plant was studied, it was observed that the number of fruits per plant showed a highly significant association with the fruit yield. In the present study, mulches were found to have significant influence on the vegetative growth of the plant. The profound beneficial influence of mulches on vegetative growth of the plant inspite of over all increase in yield indicates the balanced mobilization and utilization of the synthesized food matters. Plastic mulch is practically impervious to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a gas that is of prime importance in photosynthesis and very high level of CO 2 is released under the plastic mulch. It has to come out through the holes made in the plastic for plants and a Chimney Effect is created, resulting in localized concentration of CO 2. This have increased photosynthesis and resulted in increased vegetative growth under black plastic mulch. The increased vegetative growth under paddy straw was mainly due to its positive effect on soil physical and chemical properties. Plant morphological characters like crown height, plant spread, number of leaves etc. were found to be increased by the influence of various mulch materials in which black polythene gave the best result. In the investigation, comparison of two types of mulches revealed that black plastic mulch was superior to paddy straw mulch which is similar to the findings of Bester and Srinivas (1989) and observed that fruit size was not influenced by the various planting dates though the effects of interaction (mulch x date of planting) on fruit yield, acidity and number of pickings were significant. It was also observed, the mulches on crown height was significantly higher to compare to un-mulch plots (Table 1). Maximum crown height was found with black polythene mulch (12.86, and 14.80) at 60, 75 and 90 DAP respectively, which is similar to the findings of Singh et al. (2006), followed by paddy straw. Other characters like crown spread and number of leaves / plant, the highest result were recorded under black polyethylene mulch at all the observation dates which is similar to the findings of Ravikher et al. (2010) and Das et al. (2007). International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 166

5 Treat ments Blue polyth ene Crown height (cm) Crown spread (cm) Numbers of runners / plant DAP 75 DAP 90DAP DAP DAP DAP N-S E-W N-E E-W N-E E-W DAP DAP DAP Number of leaves/ plant DAP DAP DAP Days taken for flower initiatio n (DAP) Black polyth ene Transp arent polyth ene Saw- Dust Paddy Straw Contro l(unm ulch) SEM( ±) C.D at 5% Table 1: Effect of mulching on vegetative growth of strawberry of cv. Candler With respect to date of initiation of flowering, significant differences have been observed within the various treatments, black polythene mulch recorded the shortest time for flower initiation (89.33 days) which is followed by saw-dust treated plot (102 days). Sharma et al. (2004) observed that growing plants with plastic mulch increases the number of flowers and buds and also crown in many strawberry cultivars. International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 167

6 Treatment Av. fruit size (cm 2 ) Fruit weight. (g) Fruit yield (g/plant) Projected Yield/ha (q) Days taken for ripening of fruit after fruit set Blue polythene Black polythene Transparent polythene Saw- Dust Paddy Straw Control(unmulch) SEM(±) C.D at 5% Table 2: Effect of mulching on fruit yield and fruit ripening of strawberry cv. Chandler The data of fruit characters and yield attributes under various treatments were represented in table 2.The effects of various treatments on the number of days taken for ripening of fruit after fruit set were found to have marked differences. The shortest time taken (48.33 days) after fruit set was recorded with black polythene mulch was closely followed by paddy straw mulch (49.66 days) after fruit set. The maximum time taken for ripening after fruit set (73.66 days) was recorded in control in control plots followed by saw-dust treated plots (60 days). Lemaitre (1973) also reported that the fruit under plastic mulch or tunnels ripened earlier than open-grown strawberries. In the present experiment, it was observed that the maximum fruit size (13.87cm 2 ) and fruit weight (4.03g) were observed under paddy straw mulch treatment. Paddy straw mulch was superior to rest of the other treatments in increasing fruit size, while it was recorded statistically at par with black polythene mulch in case of fruit weight. The least fruit size at maturity (3.37cm 2 ) was recorded from control plot, followed by transparent polythene (7.91cm 2 ). Fruit weight at maturity was lowest under closely followed by saw-dust treated plots (2.66g). Srivastava and Aggarwal (1982) reported that with respect to fruit size and fruit length, strawberry plants when mulched with hay or black polythene, there was significant increase in size and length of the fruit. With regards to yield of fruits, after a thorough examination of the data, it was observed that mulching influences the total yield of fruits. Record on the total number of fruits was found to be highest (252g/plant) under straw mulch which was found to be statistically at par with black polythene mulch; while the least fruit yield was recorded in control plots followed by saw-dust mulch plots and transparent polythene mulch. International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 168

7 Soil covers like paddy straw, rice husk dry grass, sugarcane waste, saw-dust or black plastic when applied to strawberry plants; the highest and next highest yields were obtained from plots covered with rice husk and sugarcane waste respectively. The lowest yields were on clean cultivation plots, as reported by them. While studying the effect of mulches on strawberry production, Badiyala and Aggarwal (1981) reported that polythene and pine needles mulches increased fruit yield by 68 and 33% respectively over the non-mulched control plots. Since, mulches usually make the soil a better medium for plant growth and development, mulching strawberry plants invariably shows beneficial influence on yield. In the present instance, the differences in yield due to different mulch treatments were found to be varying significantly. The highest projected yield (226.25q/ha) was recorded in paddy straw mulch in comparison to the lowest yield recorded from the control plots (92.25 q/ ha) followed by black polythene mulch plots (217.0q/ha). This higher fruit yield recorded from paddy straw mulch was due to its bigger fruit size along with more number of fruits per plant, while low yields in the control plots could be attributed to lowest number of fruits as well as minimum individual fruit weight. Among the various mulches, paddy straw has been found to influence fruit yield significantly. As high as 252 g/plant recorded in paddy straw treated plots as against lowest of g/plant recorded in the control. The superiority of paddy straw mulch over black mulch in terms of yield and yield attributing characters, in contrary to the findings of Hassan et al. (2000) could be ascribed due to the increased availability of plant nutrients, especially soil organic carbon in additional to the higher soil moisture level under paddy straw mulch which led to improved vegetative growth and ultimately increased yield. This may presumably be due to the maintenance of optimum soil temperature and reduction in temperature fluctuations. From the results of the data presented in Table 4, it was interesting to note that the plants raised under mulches obtained higher T.S.S., reducing sugar, total sugar, non-reducing sugar, ascorbic content; while the titrable acidity under mulched plots were lower than in the control plots. The low titrable acidity observed under mulched plots might be due to high moisture regime under such treatment leading to high dilution effect. According to Badiyala and Aggarwal (1981), mulches have 3 significant effect on yield, fruit size, TSS, acidity and number of pickings. They also reported that the percentage of TSS in strawberry was highest (9.4 o Brix) under polythene, which was 1.10 and 1.22 times that under pine needles and control respectively. Hay mulching resulted in increased ascorbic acid content as compared to International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 169

8 control in strawberry as reported by Srivastava and Agarwal (1982). Mulching ( both organic and inorganic) were found effective in improving the size, pulp and TSS of fruits as reported by Nayipal et al., (1986). The estimate of general cost of cultivation for strawberry in 1 ha area was computed in each treatment and presented in Table 4. Treatment TSS ( 0 Brix) Titrable acidity (%) Ascorbic acid mg/100g juice) Reducing Sugar (%) Total Sugar (%) Nonreducing sugar (%) Blue polythene Black polythene Transparent polythene Saw- Dust Paddy Straw Control(unmulch) SEM(±) C.D at 5% Table 3: Effect of mulching on fruit quality of strawberry cv. Chandler Treatments General cost of cultivation (Rs) Mulchi ng cost(r s) Total cost( Rs) (A) Intere 5% for 1 year( B) Total cost(rs)(a +B) Total 5500/q of fruits Net Profi t (Rs) Bene fit cost ratio Blue polythene 0 80 Black polythene 0 55 Transparent polythene Saw- Dust Paddy Straw Control(unm ulch) Table 4: Economics of strawberry cultivation by the use of various mulch materials per ha area From the data, with regard to benefit-cost ratio among the treatments, the highest gross return (Rs. 6,93,000) was obtained with treatment Paddy straw followed by treatment Black International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 170

9 Polythene with Rs. 3,81,255 as compared to control (Rs. 25,815). With respect to benefit-cost ratio, the maximum value (1.59) was obtained with treatment paddy straw followed by treatment black polythene (1.35) while the lowest (0.10) was obtained with control. Therefore, it can be concluded that mulch treatment with paddy straw and black polythene film proved more effective and beneficial for yield per unit area and with respect to benefit: cost ratio as well as yield per hectare. Mulch with paddy straw was computed the most effective and economical followed by use of black polythene mulch as compare to control. International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 171

10 References: 1. A.O.A.C. (1984). Official Methods of analysis. Association of Official analytical Chemist (14 th edition Washington D. C.) 2. Badilaya, S.D and Aggarwal, G. C (1981). Note on the effect of mulches on strawberry production. Indian j. Agric. Sci., 51 (11): Bhattacharya R. K. and madhava Rao, V. N (1985). Soil covers increased banana production. Indian Hort., 30: Das, B., N. Vishal, jana, R. R., Dey, P., Pramanick, K. K. and kishore, D. K. (2007) Performance of strawberry cultivars grown on different mulching materials under subhumid, sub-tropical conditions of Eastern India. Indian J. Hort., 64; Hassan, G. H., Godara, A. K. Kumar, J and Huchche., A. D. (2000). Effect of different mulches on the yield and quality of Oso Grande strawberry. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 70: Lamaitre, A. (1973). Strawberry culture under large plant tunnels. Fruitteeltblad 17: Lamaitre, M.; Lareau, M. j.; Payette, S and Fortin, C. (1996). Influence of nitrogen fertilization, row covers and cultivars on the production of day neutral strawberry. Canadian J. Soil Sci., 76: Martins, N.L.F. and Wesatphalen, S.L. (1983). Effect of plastic mulches on yield of two strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa Duch) cultivars and on soil temperature. Agronomia Sulriograndense. 19 (2): Nayipal, R.K.; Sud, G. and chadha, T. R. (1986). Effect of different mulching materials and herbicides on growth and fruiting of plum cv. Santa rosa. South Indian Hort., 34: Ravi kher, Jahangeeer, A. Baba and Parshant Bakshi (2010) Influence of planting time and mulching material on growth and fruit yield of strawberry cv. Chandler. India J. hort. 67: Sadasivam, S and Manikam, A (1992) Biometrical methods for Agricultural Sciences. Willey Eastern Ltd. New Delhi and T.N. A. U, Coimbetore. Pp Sharma, R. R., Sharma, V. P. and Pandey, S. N (2004) Mulching influences plant growth and albinism disorder in strawberry under subtropical climate. Acta Horticulturae 662: International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 172

11 13. Singh Akath.; De, L. C. and Bujarbaruah, K. M. (2007). Improved package of practices of strawberry cultivation. Technical Bulletin No. 28 ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umroi Road, Umiam, Meghalaya. 14. Srivastava, R. P. and Aggrwal N. C. (1982). A note on the mulching of strawberry. Indian J. Hort., 22: International Journal of Innovative Research and Studies Page 173