Impact of mulch thickness on enhanced vegetative growth of Khirni and increased microbial populations in soil

A field study for the effect of mulch thickness on enhanced vegetative growth of khirni and microbial populations in soil cv. Thar Rituraj was conducted during the 2019–20 at the College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar, Rajasthan. Among different thicknesses, application of T6–12 cm of dry grass to individual plants was significantly superior to all other treatments, but it was on at par with T5–10 cm thickness of dry grass. In treatment T6, an increase in shoot and leaf parameters, such as plant height (32.61%), petiole length (6.64%), leaf length (13.45%), leaf width (18.85%), leaf area (31.03%), leaf perimeter (18.92%), chlorophyll content (29.75%) and microbial populations Bacteria (×105 cfu/g soil) (4.35) and Fungi (×103 cfu/g soil) (3.10) recorded.