Effects of Mulching on Biomass, Nutrients, and Soil Water in Banana Inoculated with Nematodes

Abstract

trient availability, (ii) increased porosity/ improved infiltration, (iii) increased surface rooting. Alternatively, The objective of this study was to determine whether mulching increased surface rooting could have a negative impact mitigated the impact of nematodes on banana (Musa AAA) inocuif nematodes reside primarily in the upper layers of the lated with Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne and Helicotylenchus multicinctus (Cobb) Golden. The study was conducted at Interna-soil profile, that is, a larger percentage of total root tional Institute of Tropical Agriculture's (IITA's) Sendusu station, biomass could potentially be exposed to nematode activ-Uganda. Treatments included mulched and bare soil with or without ity in the event of preferential surface rooting. Our nematode inoculation. Mulched treatments produced over three times objectives in this study were to determine the effect of more biomass than bare soil treatments. This increase in biomass was mulching on above-and below-ground biomass, soil and likely due to improved fertility as a result of mulching, since mulched foliar nutrient levels, and soil water uptake in banana treatments had higher concentrations of soil organic C, P, and exinoculated with R. similis and H. multicinctus. changeable K and Mg, and foliar K. Mulched banana took up more water from both the 0-to 0.3-m and 0.3-to 0.5-m depths than banana mats (three successive generations grown as a production unit) Center, P.O. Box 7878, Kampala, Uganda (now deceased); S.J. Riha, spaced at 3 by 3 m. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) were

A comparison of the effects of the nematodesRadopholus similisandPratylenchus goodeyion growth, root health and yield of an East African highland cooking banana (MusaAAA-group)

“…Obiefuna (1991) found that mulch of crop residues was effective at decreasing nematode populations in plantain. Mulching is reputed also to mitigate the impact of nematodes on banana (Sikora et al, 1989;Kashaija et al, 1999), especially when applied to low fertility systems (McIntyre et al, 2000). The beneficial effects of mulching in plantain and banana have been attributed to improvements in soil physical, chemical and biological properties (Swennen, 1990;Salau et al, 1992;McIntyre et al, 2000).…”

“…Another factor that may influence nematode population densities and the extent of nematode damage to banana roots is crop management such as mulching, a common banana management practice in Uganda (Bananuka and Rubaihayo, 1994). Nematode-related yield losses in East African highland bananas ranging from 15 to 50% have been observed for mixed populations of R. similis and H. multicinctus Speijer and Kajumba, 2000;McIntyre et al, 2000). Data on yield loss caused by P. goodeyi are not available.…”

Integrating a mini catchment with mulching for soil water management in a sloping jujube orchard on the semiarid Loess Plateau of China

“…A lot of field and laboratory studies have shown that organic mulching can increase soil water storage by reducing storm runoff (Moreno-Ramón et al, 2014;Sadeghi et al, 2015), increasing infiltration (Montenegro et al, 2013), and decreasing evaporation (McIntyre et al, 2000;Sas-Paszt et al, 2014). Chakraborty et al (2010) found that organic mulches had better soil water status and improved plant canopy in terms of biomass, root growth, leaf area index, and grain yield, which subsequently resulted in higher water and nitrogen uptake and their use efficiencies.…”

Coal Residue Use and Banana Irrigation Depths Effects During the Second Cicle in Northern Minas Gerais

“…can affect soil water retention in banana plantations (Mc INTYRE et al, 2000). Furthermore, the benefits of organic matter are known and its application is recommended for banana plantations (SILVA and BORGES, 2008;SOUZA et al, 1999).…”