A comparison of different solarisation systems and their impacts on soil thermal characteristics—an application in cultivated soils close to Baghdad, a highly populated city in Iraq

Abstract

Solarisation application by mulching the soil with a polyethene plastic film has a significant influence on soil thermal characteristics (TCs), which, in turn, show a strong impact on soil energy balance and agricultural productivity. In countries like Iraq with highly populated cities, such as Baghdad, that need large quantities of agriproducts, this kind of clean energy should play a key role in sustainable agricultural production. However, little is known about the effects of different soil solarisation systems in specific cultivated fields for this country characterised by an arid climate and silty clay soils. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted to investigate changes in soil TCs under different soil solarisation systems (black and clear plastics) at three different soil depths in a two-factor factorial design. Also, both the black and clear plastic plots were compared with a control (without mulch) plot treatment.

Yield Response and Antioxidant Activity of Greenhouse Organic Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) as Affected by Soil Solarization and Biofumigation

“…In our trials, during the soil solarization, for all the cover plots, the heating treatment reported good results both at 10 cm and 30 cm depth whilst only at 10 cm depth, it was not very efficient for the uncovered thesis. This result is very similar those obtained in other solarization treatments [30,31].…”