Department of Agronomy, Anand Agricultural University, B.A. College of Agriculture, Anand - 388 110, India.
Soil solarization is a novel technique of controlling soil-borne pests including weeds. It involves covering the wet soil with a thin transparent polyethylene sheet during the summer months. The process would raise the surface soil temperature by 8 to 12°C as compared to non-solarized soils. Transparent polyethylene found highly effective for heating the soil than black polyethylene. Thinner (19 to 25 μm) transparent polyethylene sheets are more effective for solar heating than thicker (50–100 μm) one. A duration of 4 to 6 weeks is sufficient to give satisfactory control of most of weeds. Many annuals, some perennials and parasitic weeds are highly sensitive to solar heating of the soil. However, weeds such as Cyperos rotundus (tubers), Melilotus spp. (hard seed coat) and Cynodon dactylon (rhizomes) are not controlled easily by solarization. Solarization, thus proved to be not pnly as an efficient method of weed control but was also safe to the crop as well as invariably it produced healthy and vigorous seedlings and eventually resulted higher yield in all crops as compared non solarized plots even treated with herbicides. Application of solarization technique in general and its scope in India is reviewed here.
