Abstract
Three years of field trials have been carried out in Zaragoza, Spain, using different biodegradable mulch materials in processing tomatoes. The aim was to evaluate weed control with several biodegradable mulches as alternatives to black polyethylene (PE) mulch. The treatments were rice straw, barley straw, maize harvest residue, absinth wormwood plants, black biodegradable plastic, brown kraft paper, PE, herbicide, manual weeding, and unweeded control. Assessments focused on weeds and on crop yield. A laboratory study showed that 1 kg/m 2 of organic mulch was sufficient to cover the soil for rice, barley straw, and maize harvest residue. The most abundant weed species in the field were purple nutsedge, common purslane, common lambsquarters, and large crabgrass and a change in weed composition was observed between treatments and years. Most weed species were controlled by the mulching materials except that purple nutsedge was controlled only by paper mulch. The other species were well controlled by PE and biodegradable plastic and also by some of the organic mulch treatments. Best weed control and lowest weed biomass were achieved by paper followed by PE and biodegradable plastic. The best organic mulch was rice straw and the worst weed control was from absinth wormwood. Tomato yield was highest for PE followed by paper, manual weeding, biodegradable plastic, and rice straw and was clearly related to weed control. Paper, biodegradable plastic, and rice straw are potential substitutes for PE and herbicides.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Organic mulch at 1 kg/m 2 covered soil for rice, barley straw and maize harvest residue.
- Taxon
- Tomatoes
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Outcome
- cover the soile0
- Value
- 1 kg/m 2e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“1 kg/m 2 of organic mulch was sufficient to cover the soil for rice, barley straw, and maize harvest residue”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching materials controlled most weed species.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- mulching materialse0
- Outcome
- weed speciese0
- Direction
- controllede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Most weed species were controlled by the mulching materials”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Paper mulch alone controlled purple nutsedge.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- paper mulche0
- Interactor
- purple nutsedgee0weed
- Outcome
- purple nutsedgee0
- Direction
- controllede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“purple nutsedge was controlled only by paper mulch”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Paper gave the best weed control and lowest weed biomass, followed by PE and biodegradable plastic.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- papere0
- Outcome
- weed control and lowest weed biomasse0
- Direction
- Beste0
- Comparator
- PE and biodegradable plastice0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Best weed control and lowest weed biomass were achieved by paper followed by PE and biodegradable plastic”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Rice straw was the best organic mulch for weed control.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- rice strawe0
- Outcome
- best organic mulche0
- Direction
- beste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The best organic mulch was rice straw”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Absinth wormwood gave the worst weed control.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Treatment
- absinth wormwoode0
- Outcome
- weed controle0
- Direction
- worste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the worst weed control was from absinth wormwood”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato yield was highest with PE, followed by paper, manual weeding, biodegradable plastic and rice straw.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- PEe0
- Outcome
- Tomato yielde0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Comparator
- papere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tomato yield was highest for PE followed by paper, manual weeding, biodegradable plastic, and rice straw”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato yield was related to weed control.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- weed controle0
- Direction
- relatede0
Not reportedTreatment
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“was clearly related to weed control”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors identified paper, biodegradable plastic and rice straw as potential substitutes for PE and herbicides.
- Taxon
- TomatoesSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- potential substitutes for PE and herbicidese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Paper, biodegradable plastic, and rice straw are potential substitutes for PE and herbicides.”
t0“Processing Tomatoes”
The same questions in other papers
mulching · weed · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
48 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction · 4 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- positive
- positive
51 papers more in this group
See all 55 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.