Agricultural Mulch Film

What is Mulch and Mulching?

What is Mulching Farming?

Mulching is used in agriculture to keep the soil covered and healthy during and after the crop season. The soil between plants is covered with a mulch layer to keep the roots and bulbs of the crop cool in summer and warm in the winter.

Types of Mulching

There are primarily two mulch films, Organic and plastic mulch films

Organic Mulching:

• Using organic materials such as by-products and crop residue
• These are biodegradable mulches (BDMs)
• They are habitat generous films because of their organic nature
• More expensive compared to the other films
• They consist of organic composts like hay, fodder, and other kinds of organic ingredients

Non-Organic(Plastic) Mulching:

• Using plastic Mulching Sheet
• They fulfill the valid goal of mulch farming
• Inexpensive and reasonable price
• Assures the soil nutrient and water retention and serves the purpose efficiently
• They can be amassed and have been a tremendous benefit since the late 90s are still restfully wielded widely as they can be stored and reused at a larger scale

Basic properties of mulch film

1. It stops soil erosion, and water retention since it doesn’t let the precipitation evaporate from the sheets.
2. It also helps plant fitness with the climate playing a major part in its development. The logical use of the mulch is to use it for at least one crop per season.
3. Climate proofing is to guard against inconsistent climate changes and not allow the climate to affect crop growth under such randomness.
4. Thermal assurance for the plant is also very crucial as the temperatures tend to increase and decrease due to various other reasons including climate, stress conditions, the growth stage of plants, irrigation methods, technologies used for cropping, etc.
5. Disease-free plants can be an additional part of mulch films as the sheets do not encourage the normal growth conditions of plant pathogens.

Important parameters for mulch films

There are some vital parameters for agricultural mulch films that are a must and should;

1. Consistency: It is an essential part of mulch sheets as they should not let the climate affect the plantation, especially over time, when the crop is exposed to sunlight.
2. The compass of length (width): The spread between one crop to another varies from plant to plant. Being sure of the interval and difference between plants helps the mulch sit firmly. Therefore understanding the length and width of the field is important for the right side of the sheet to perfectly fit the field.
3. Perforation: Digging a perfect hole to let the water pass in and letting the mulch settle in so that the crop adjusts to the climatic changes. Perforations, therefore, are a major part of mulching for water provision, retention, and irrigation efficiencies.
4. Color of the mulch: The pigmentation of the mulch is also a significant part of mulch farming. It impacts the elements of climate and brininess (saltiness). The mulch color may affect the crop type. Therefore, a crop that needs more Nitrogen in the soil to a crop that needs more calcium or zinc, etc. should be grown under different colored mulches to retain their soil nutrient and fertility personalized for the crops.

Advantages of Mulching

1. Less water is needed as mulching prevents water evaporation and water retention since it limits water losses from direct evaporation from the soil and helps in water conservation And the mulching sheet protects the soil.
2. Suppress weed growth as it blocks photosynthesis by blocking sunlight.
3. Conserves soil from winds and heavy rains that can erode the soil layer.
4. Mulching stops solar irradiations and helps in Soil temperature control. Mulches absorb the radiations in the day and maintain warm temperatures even during nighttime. Warm temperatures of the soil enable seeds to germinate quickly and faster, establishing strong root systems for the young plants.
5. Improved crop quality, yield & also early germination by almost 2-3 days.
6. Mulching can protect from flooding because the mulch films impermeability to water.
7. Plastic film, with its moisture barrier properties, does not allow the moisture to evaporate from the soil, and therefore it condenses on the lower surface under mulch film and falls back as droplets.
8. Periods between two irrigations can go as long as several days because of the moisture preserved from mulching.
9. Irrigation water or rainfall reaches the soil through holes in the mulch over the crops or through the un-mulched area.
10. The mulch films are black, making them impervious to sunlight. Photosynthesis does not take place in the absence of sunlight, in turn arresting weed growth.

Disadvantages of Mulching

1. If not properly applied, the mulch layer can be a shelter for cutworms and other insects.
2. If placed too soon, mulch sheets can interfere with seed germination on the ground.

What is the Mulching Sheet?

Mulch Film Applications and How to Choose Mulching Sheet

1. Area: Mulching Sheets are used for growing food and vegetable crops over extensive areas and therefore need to be extensible according to the area of the fields and acre coverage.
2. Durability: agricultural Mulch film need to protect against solar radiations, agrochemicals, and chemical pesticides and therefore durability is a very important factor to choose good Mulch films.
3. Color: The color of mulch films improves the properties of mulching for some applications. Therefore depending on the crop and farming requirements, mulch films can be chosen.
4. Biodegradability: if mulch sheets are biobased and completely biodegradable, it can be easy for the farmer to plow directly after harvest and not have to spend time and money laboriously collecting the mulch films after every harvest. If not the mulch sheets should be reusable or recyclable

Precautions for Mulch Laying

1. While laying the Mulch film, it should not be stretched very tightly. It needs to be loose enough to overcome the expansions or shrinkage of the Mulch film caused by differing temperatures and the operational impacts.
2. Black films expand more and therefore the slackness should be more as the expansion, shrinkage phenomenon is maximum in this color.
3. The film will be in expanded condition in high temperatures therefore it is preferred not to lay the films during the hottest time of the day.

How to Remove Mulch?

Mulch Film Manufacturers and Suppliers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Ideal brand Mulch Films & Mats have been universally proven to increase yields and lower insect problems. We have been in the business with many happy farmers boasting of our mulching film product.

Features Of Mulch Sheets

How to Choose the right mulch film for Crops?

Quick guide for the selection of mulch film

Suitable crops for Mulching