Photosynthesis,growth, and fruit yield of cucumber in response to oxo-degradable plastic mulches |
| |
Authors: | Gorgonio López-Tolentino Adrián Méndez-Prieto A. Javier Lozano-del Río Ricardo H. Lira-Saldivar José H. Valenzuela-Soto |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Departamento de Plásticos en la Agricultura, Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila, México;2. Departamento de Procesos de Transformación de Plásticos, Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila, México;3. Departamento de Fitomejoramiento, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila, México |
| |
Abstract: | The use of plastic mulch is associated with a higher increase in yield of vegetables. However, at the end of the growing season for each crop, plastic mulching can create environmental pollution that can cause negative impacts on the environment that could be solved by the use of degradable plastics. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of oxo-degradable plastic mulches on soil temperature, growth, gas exchange, and cucumber crop yield. The study was conducted in two locations in the northeast of Mexico during the spring and summer of 2013. The plastic mulch colors with additives were blue, green, and red and each color having 8% and 12% of pigment and 22% and 23% of Titanium dioxide (Rutile). The resultant treatments were compared with the black plastic mulch, which is the standard plastic in the world, and bare soil in a randomized complete block design with three replications in two locations. The mean soil temperature at both locations was statistically higher in black plastic mulch, followed by the oxo-degradable plastics mulches and lowest in the control. Gas exchange was not affected by plastic mulches. SPAD units as the index of chlorophyll content in leaves were very little affected by plastic mulch. Both, commercial and total yield were statistically similar in the oxo-degradable plastic mulches and the black plastic mulch, and lowest in the control. Plastics with higher concentrations of pigment registered higher degradation in both locations. Our results suggest that different plastic mulches impact positively on the yield of cucumber crop. The benefit in yield by the different plastic mulches in the conditions of this study was due to their soil warming ability that results in improved soil temperature, leaf area, and plant dry weight. |
| |
Keywords: | Cucumis sativus leaf area shoot dry weight photosynthesis plasticulture yield |
|
|