Effect of Mulching on Growth and Yield of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) on the Coastal Sandy Land in Nghe An Province, Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the oil and cash crops in Vietnam. However, owing to the lack of appropriate management practices, the production and the area under cultivation of peanut have remained low. Mulches are the key factors contributing to promoting crop development and early harvest and increasing yields. Methods: The experiment consisted of three mulch treatments, viz., plastic mulch, straw mulch and no-mulch control. All the treatments were replicated thrice in a complete randomized block design. Result: In the conditions of mulch, the plant growth parameters (germination rate, growing time, plant height, number of branches per plant), leaf area index, the number of nodules per plant, dry matter accumulation, yield components and yield of peanut was much higher than that of no-mulch control. Among the mulches, plastic mulch was found superior to straw mulch in the pod yields and water-use efficiency and moisture conservation, thereby can be considered as a reliable practice for increasing the productivity of peanut on the coastal sandy land in Nghe An province, Vietnam.

Effects of Mulching Materials on the Growth and Yield of Peanuts Cultivated in Coastal Areas of Thanh Hoa Province

“…However, the differences between the mulching types and the control were not statistically significant. This observation is also similar to the results of Tran et al (2022).…”

“…The highest dry matter was recorded for clear plastic (45.91 g/plant), followed by rice straw (44.61 g/plant), while lesser values were found for sugar cane bagasse (43.99 g/plant) and water hyacinth (43.83 g/plant). This is in line with several studies that found the growth characteristics of peanuts were highest under polythene mulching, followed by rice straw mulching (Dutta, 2006;Jain et al, 2018;Tran et al, 2022).…”

“…Similar increases in peanut yield due to mulching have been reported in previous studies (Ramakrishnan et al, 2006;Jain et al, 2017). Tran et al (2022) reported a slightly higher yield increase for L14 (16% for plastic mulch and 12.8% for straw mulch) than this study.…”

“…LAI attained the highest values at the podding stage and declined remarkably until the full seed period. The values for LAI obtained in this study (Table 3) were similar to those reported in the literature on peanuts (Nguyen et al, 2016;Tran et al, 2022). At all growth stages, LAI under mulching was significantly higher than the non-mulching treatment (P <0.05), and cv.…”

“…On the coastal sandy soil conditions in Nghe An province, most of the plant growth parameters, yield components, and yield of peanuts under mulching were significantly higher than those of the no-mulch control. Among the mulches, plastic mulch was superior to straw mulch in pod yield, water use efficiency, and moisture conservation (Tran et al, 2022). Plastic mulches directly impact the microclimate around the plant by modifying the radiation budget (absorptivity vs. reflectivity) of the surface and decreasing soil water loss.…”