Journal of Eco-friendly Agriculture

Globally, the most popularised issue is the burning of crop residues which has an adverse effect on the environment and human health. According to the estimates of Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute (2004), about 72 Mt crop residues are burnt on-farm. Apart from burning, crop residues have several uses viz., soil mulching, manure, power generation, animal feed etc. Hence, straw mulching in paddy stubble fields was studied based on the effect of straw moisture on mulching parameters viz., length of chopped material, cutting efficiency, and uniformity of spreading. The moisture content of paddy was taken at intervals after harvesting of the crop i.e., 20, 30, and 40 days after harvest. The straw moisture content at these intervals is found to be 15, 19, and 24 per cent, respectively. The length of chopped material increased linearly with straw moisture content and varied from 15 to 24 cm. There is a decreasing trend of cutting efficiency with an increase in straw moisture content which varied from 65 to 86 per cent. The uniformity of spreading varied from 79.53 to 94.56 per cent and decreased with an increase in straw moisture content.