Contrasting dry grass with other substitute mulching materials in improving soil conditions and cabbage yield

Abstract

Agriculture in Uganda lags behind due to continual cultivation and the relatively limited availability of additional agricultural land. Consequently, the soil is rapidly losing its quality, necessitating soil and water conservation measures such as mulching. Dry grass, leaves, straw, grass clippings, bark cuttings, and compost are common organic mulching materials but there is competition for these mulching materials from other uses like animal feed and thatching. In order to adapt to this circumstance, alternative mulching materials such as wood shavings, sawdust, plastic mulch, and crop residues have been introduced. However, more information is still needed on the effect of these alternative mulching materials on soil health and cabbage yield. The study aimed at contrasting dry grass with substitute mulching materials which included wood shavings, plastic mulch, and soybean crop residues on their efficacy on improving soil conditions and cabbage yield. The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates and 5 treatments. To achieve total soil coverage throughout the trial, replenishment of the mulching materials was done uniformly at the same time on all the treatments. Data collected included earthworm abundance, cabbage growth parameters (plant height, number of loose leaves, head girth, and leaf area) and cabbage yield. Soil sampling was done twice; before the setup of the experiment where 3 samples were randomly obtained from each block and at the end of the experiment where 2 soil samples were randomly obtained from each treatment which were subjected to laboratory analysis. The results showed that earthworm count was highest (87 in number in plots mulched with soybean residues and lowest (14 in number) under plastic mulch. The in number Epigeic earthworms had the highest dominancy index across all treatments followed by endogeic. Cabbage yield (fresh weight) was significantly different between alternative mulch and dry grass in the dry grass (21763.75 kg/ha.) followed by soybean mulch (875.33kg/ha), wood shavings(1273.47kg/ha), plastic (1.51 kg/ha) and lastly control (7.8 kg/ha) which had the lowest yield. The mulching materials did not significantly affect soil chemical properties within the study period. Overall results from this study have demonstrated that mulching using soybean crop residue enhances soil health and increases cabbage yield yields. Soybean crop residue can be alternatively used as mulch instead of dry grass then this experiment needs to be done for about 4 seasons in order to see the contribution of mulch to the soil chemical properties