Conservation of in-situ soil moisture through non-woven geo-jute mulches: A case study under North Eastern Hilly Region of India

To enhance water productivity of winter crops under hilly terrain of North Eastern India, resource conservation techniques need to be adhered. Bio-mulching is a possible solution to overcome soil moisture deficits to a great extent. Inclusion of non-woven jute as mulching material apart from regular crop and weed residues is an innovative approach to address this issue. To assess the effectiveness of different non-woven jute mulches a field trial was conducted during winter season 2023-24 at Meghalaya. The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with three jute mulch treatments and a control under main plot treatment [(No mulch (M₁); 400 gsm mulch (M₂); 500 gsm mulch (M₃) and 600 gsm mulch (M₄)] along with three pea cultivars [IPFD-99-13 (V₁); IPFD-1-10 (V₂) and IPF-99-25 (V₃)] under sub-plot treatment and replicated thrice. To estimate the comparative efficacy of non-woven jute mulch equal volume of water was applied at four critical stages of crop. The average increase in soil moisture content as compared to un-mulch plot (M₁) was 12.6, 11.9 and 4.6% for M₄, M₃ and M₂, respectively. As compared to M₁ the enhancement in yield was 141.25, 118.03 and 93.71% for M₄, M₃ and M₂, respectively. The 600 gsm mulch (M₄) mulch registered the highest water productivity at 73.42 kg ha^-1 mm^-1, similarly the registered values of water productivity with cultivars IPFD-99-25 and IPFD-1-10 were 65.50 and 56.16 42 kg ha^-1 mm^-1, respectively. Based on the experimental findings, it may be suggested that, 600 gsm non-woven jute mulch may be used with IPFD-99-25, which ensure a better winter pulse production.