Assessing the potential for spunbond, nonwoven biodegradable fabric as mulches for tomato and bell pepper crops

Wortman, Sam E.; Kadoma, Ignatius; Crandall, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.07.019

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…1) from the high C:N residue. With the exception of the weed-free plots, bioplastic and polyethylene plastic increased yields over bare soil plots across all grit types; the lack of yield benefit in the absence of weeds suggests that the primary benefit of the mulches in this study was weed suppression (not soil moisture conservation or increased soil warming as documented in other studies, e.g., Wortman et al, 2015).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 48%

Abrasive Grit Application in Organic Red Pepper: An Opportunity for Integrating Nitrogen and Weed Management

Braun

Lovell

Babadoost³

et al. 2019

horts

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Weeds are a top management concern among organic vegetable growers. Abrasive weeding is a nonchemical tactic using air-propelled abrasive grit to destroy weed seedlings within crop rows. Many grit types are effective, but if organic fertilizers are used, this could integrate weed and nutrient management in a single field pass. Our objective was to quantify the effects of abrasive grit and mulch type on weed suppression, disease severity, soil nitrogen availability, and yield of pepper (Capsicum annuum L. ‘Carmen’). A 2-year experiment was conducted in organic red sweet pepper at Urbana, IL, with four replicates of five abrasive grit treatments (walnut shell grits, soybean meal fertilizer, composted turkey litter fertilizer, a weedy control, and a weed-free control) and four mulch treatments (straw mulch, bioplastic film, polyethylene plastic film, and a bare soil control). Abrasive weeding, regardless of grit type, paired with bioplastic or polyethylene plastic mulch reduced in-row weed density (67 and 87%, respectively) and biomass (81 and 84%); however there was no significant benefit when paired with straw mulch or bare ground. Despite the addition of 6 to 34 kg N/ha/yr through the application of soybean meal and composted turkey litter grits, simulated plant N uptake was most influenced by mulch composition (e.g., plastic vs. straw) and weed abundance. Nitrogen immobilization in straw mulch plots reduced leaf greenness, plant height, and yield. Bacterial spot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. Vesicatoria) was confirmed on peppers in both years, but abrasive weeding did not increase severity of the disease. Pepper yield was always greatest in the weed-free control and lowest in straw mulch and bare soil, but the combination of abrasive weeding (regardless of grit type) and bioplastic or polyethylene plastic mulch increased marketable yield by 47% and 21%, respectively, compared with the weedy control. Overall, results demonstrate that when abrasive weeding is paired with bioplastic or polyethylene mulch, growers can concurrently suppress weeds and increase crop N uptake for greater yields.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 48%

Abrasive Grit Application in Organic Red Pepper: An Opportunity for Integrating Nitrogen and Weed Management

Braun

Lovell

Babadoost³

et al. 2019

horts

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“…As more biodegradable plastic products enter the agricultural marketplace, there is a need for guidelines to assure growers that these products perform similarly in the field as they do in standardized laboratory tests. For example, new biobased biodegradable fabrics are being developed, and though they are not yet commercially available, they show promise for agriculture (e.g., to be used as mulch, landscape fabric, and rowcover) (Li et al, 2014;Wortman et al, 2015;Wortman et al, 2016). The end goal of agricultural and polymer scientists is to provide manufacturers with new information so they can develop fully biodegradable and biobased mulches for potential use in organic and sustainable production systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suitability of Biodegradable Plastic Mulches for Organic and Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems

Miles

DeVetter

Ghimire

et al. 2017

horts

107

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Biodegradable plastic mulch has the potential to be a sustainable technology in agricultural production systems if the mulch performs equally to polyethylene (PE) mulch and biodegrades completely into constituents that do not harm the soil ecology or environment. Reduced labor costs for removal and disposal, and reduced landfill waste add further appeal to the sustainability of biodegradable plastic mulch. Biodegradable paper mulch has been allowed in certified organic production systems in the United States for many years, while the National Organic Program (NOP) added biodegradable biobased plastic mulch to the list of allowed synthetic substances for organic crop production in Oct. 2014. Although biodegradable plastic mulch may meet the NOP biodegradability requirements (90% biodegradation within 2 years), currently no products have been approved for use in certified organic production because, so far, none meet the requirement of being completely biobased. Additionally, while the synthetic manufacturing processes that are used to make biodegradable plastic mulch are allowed by the NOP, the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the feedstocks, including their fermentation, is not allowed. Organic growers are advised always to check with their certifier before applying a product as some biodegradable mulch manufacturers and marketers erroneously advertise their product as “organic.” Looking forward, if biodegradable plastic mulch meets the NOP requirement of 90% biodegradation after 2 years, there is a possibility that 10% of plastic mulch residuals will persist (if the mulch contains nonbiodegradable ingredients); in this case, after 8 years of annual biodegradable mulch application, plastic residuals in the soil would exceed twice the amount of mulch applied per year. The current methods used by the NOP to test mulch biodegradation are laboratory based and it is uncertain if the results accurately represent field conditions. Reliable field sampling methods to measure residual mulch fragments in the soil need to be developed; however, it is unlikely such field tests will measure CO2 evolution, and thus will not be a true measure of biodegradation. Additional testing is needed under diverse field conditions to accurately quantify the rate and extent of biodegradation of mulch products that are marketed as biodegradable.

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“…These structural differences give nonwoven films some unique physical properties (e.g., air permeability) that can be advantageous, compared to plastic film when used as covering materials. For example, the temperature changes under nonwoven film are shown to be more stable, therefore avoiding the extremely high temperatures at noon that often occur under plastic film [5][6][7], and the occurrence of disease is described as being reduced due to the decreased air humidity under nonwoven film [8][9][10]. Because of these advantages, nonwoven film is increasingly used for crop cultivation as a substitute for common plastic film in modern agriculture [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PLA is most often selected as the major feedstock of biodegradable nonwoven films because of its relatively low cost, abundance, high mechanical strength, and frequent use [16]. Many studies have demonstrated that nonwoven films made of PLA perform satisfactorily in the field [6,[17][18][19]. However, considering the cost and richness of the raw materials, biodegradable natural plant fibers such as cotton, flax, hemp, and ramie, which have excellent mechanical properties, could be more suitable for use in agricultural nonwoven films.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Biodegradable Ramie Fiber-Based Nonwoven Film Used for Increasing Oxygen Supply to Cultivated Soil

et al. 2018

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Plastic agricultural nonwoven films are traditionally used as covering materials, and are prone to cause various ecological problems due to their poor biodegradability. In this paper, a ramie fiber/starch nonwoven film was prepared, and was used as bedding material, that was covered by cultivated soil as opposed to covering it. The biodegradability and porosity characteristics of the film were analyzed, and its effect on oxygen supply to soil was investigated. Results showed that the prepared film had good biodegradability (65.6% after 72 days), and had a loose and porous structure, with the main pore size being in the range of 250–300 μm. After the soil moisture content was reduced to about 44%, the oxygen concentration in the soil that was in close contact with the film, which padded the bottom surface of the plate, rose sharply and then kept stable at 20.1%, whereas soil directly in contact with the plate remained extremely anoxic (0.2%). It was concluded that use of the prepared film increased the oxygen supply to the soil in contact with it, which sufficiently compensated for the oxygen consumption caused by soil microbial activities. Thus, the prepared film is very suitable in short-term plant cultivation within containers where anoxia often occurs.

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Assessing the potential for spunbond, nonwoven biodegradable fabric as mulches for tomato and bell pepper crops

Cited by 34 publications

References 28 publications

Abrasive Grit Application in Organic Red Pepper: An Opportunity for Integrating Nitrogen and Weed Management

Abrasive Grit Application in Organic Red Pepper: An Opportunity for Integrating Nitrogen and Weed Management

Suitability of Biodegradable Plastic Mulches for Organic and Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems

A Biodegradable Ramie Fiber-Based Nonwoven Film Used for Increasing Oxygen Supply to Cultivated Soil

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