Adoption of plastic mulching techniques for enhancing african marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) production

Production of flowers under plastic mulch films helps in early sowing of the crop and the crops are healthy as the plants are provided with favourable micro climate. The present investigations were carried out at ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal during Rabi season in 2020-21 and 2021-22 to evaluate the effect of plastic mulch film on water use and plant growth parameters ofAfrican marigold. The experiment was conducted by cultivating the crop in four treatments viz., crop cultivation under drip irrigation with silver coloured plastic mulch, black coloured plastic mulch, without mulch and furrow irrigation as conventional practice and each treatment replicated five times. The highest soil temperature was under black plastic mulch. Plant growth parameters viz., plant height, stem girth, number of branches/plants, plant spread and yield contributing characters viz., flower diameter, number of flowers per plant, average fresh and dry weight of flower were significantly higher in plastic mulched compared to no mulch condition. The highest flower yield (32.19 t/ha), water productivity (13.70 kg/m³)and B:C ratio (4.27) was obtained under silver coloured mulch and lowest under furrow irrigation treatment. The plastic mulching is the most productive and profitable method for marigold cultivation in semi-arid areas.