Effect of Mulches on Soil Moisture and Fruit Yield in Summer Tomato

Present experiment was conducted in participatory mode among ten tomato growers of Chatra district of Jharkhand during late Rabi of 2009–10 to summer 2010 including three technology options viz., Farmers practices i.e. plots provided with required number of irrigations without mulching (TO1), use of black plastic mulch (TO2) and use of rice straw mulch applied @ 10 t/ha to maintain 5 cm thickness (TO3). Mulched plots were also irrigated whenever required to maintain soil moisture. Data were recorded on moisture content after one week of irrigation (%), number of irrigations during 130 days of crop duration, irrigation intervals (days) required to maintain at least 20–22% soil moisture, weed population per m² area, fruit weight (g), fruit yield per plant (kg), yield (q/ha), and C:B ratio. Results indicated that black plastic mulch was promising for increasing soil moisture content after one week of irrigation, fruit weight and reducing number of irrigations and weed population per m² area. However, rice straw mulch increased number of fruits per plant and fruit yield. Rice straw mulching also exhibited maximum B:C ratio due to higher fruit yield and lower initial input required in application of this locally available mulch material. Therefore, it was recommended for large scale application in summer tomato crop for remunerative yield.