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INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS MULCHING MATERIALS ON SOIL

PROPERTIES AND LEAF NUTRIENT STATUS OF AONLA (EMBLICA
OFFICINALIS GAERTN.) CV. NA-7

PARSHANT BAKSHI*, MUDASIR IQBAL, RAFIQ AHMED SHAH1, V. B. SINGH2 AND ROHIT ARORA3
1
*Division of Fruit Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Main Campus, Chatha - 180 009, Jammu, INDIA
2
Regional Research Station for Sub-tropical fruits, Raya - 181 143
3
Division of Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science, Main Campus, Chatha - 180 009, Jammu, INDIA
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, J&K - 180 009, INDIA
e-mail: bakshi_parshant@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION An experiment was conducted during 2013

and 2014 to study the effect of different
Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is indigenous to Indian mulching materials viz., black polythene, white
sub-continent, belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. Owing to its hardy nature, polythene, paddy straw, saw dust, sarkanda,
suitability to various wastelands, high productivity, nutritive and therapeutic dry grass and unmulched (control) on soil
values, aonla has become an important fruit. Aonla has been cultivated in India properties and leaf nutrient status of aonla
since time immemorial (Singh et al., 2009). Besides India, naturally growing aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) under rainfed
trees are also found in different parts of the world viz., Sri Lanka, Cuba, Puerto conditions of Jammu. Different organic
Rico, China, Thailand and Japan. mulches significantly increased the soil organic
carbon, soil and leaf nutrient status. Soil
Aonla is a rare example of an edible material, which is rich in tannins as well as properties were highest with paddy straw
ascorbic acid (Kalra, 1988). The vitamin C content in aonla varies from 200-900 mulch and lowest in control. Results showed
mg/100 g depending upon the variety and size of the fruit (Anonymous, 1988; that effect of different types of mulches on soil
Barthakur and Arnold, 1991). Growing of organic aonla would help in export pH and soil electric conductivity (EC) were
promotion of its value added products which have good demand in recent years non-significant among all the treatments, while
(Pathak, 2003). It has played an important therapeutic role from time immemorial it was significant on soil organic carbon N, P,
K, Ca and Mg and leaf N, P, K and Ca in all
and is frequently recommended for its synergistic effects in both the ayurvedic
treatments. Paddy straw mulch recorded
and unani systems of medicine (Jain et al., 1983). Being a very rich source of highest soil organic carbon (5.67 g/kg), N
vitamin C and other nutrients like polyphenols, pectin, iron, calcium and (231.20 kg/ha), P (19.96 kg/ha), K (160.41 kg/
phosphorus (Nath et al., 1992; Singh et al., 1993; Khopde et al., 2001), the fruit ha), Ca (387.14 kg/ha) and Mg (407.70 kg/ha).
is a potent antioxidant, hypolipidemic, antibacterial, antiviral and antacid. Among the different mulching treatments,
The practice of mulching in fruit trees impart manifold beneficial effect, like paddy straw mulch also showed maximum
stabilization of soil temperature, reduced water loss through evaporation resulting leaf N (3.38 %), P (0.27 %), K (3.19 %) and
Ca (2.10 %) content followed by saw dust.
in more stored soil moisture (Shirgure et al., 2003), maintenance of soil fertility
From the present investigation, it can be
(Thakur et al., 1997), suppression of weed growth (Bhutani et al., 1994), concluded that paddy straw mulch was
improvement in growth and yield (Pande, 2005), reduces erosion by wind or superior among all the remaining mulches for
water, checks surface run-off and suppress the weed growth (Merwin et al., 1994). soil pH, EC and leaf nutrient status under
Tree growth is greatly influenced by the use of different organic and inorganic rainfed conditions of Jammu.
mulch materials. They conserve soil moisture in the root zone of the fruit trees.
The presence of adequate moisture in the root is vital for plant growth and KEY WORDS
physiological processes. Keeping the beneficial aspects of mulching in Aonla
background, this investigation was undertaken to assess the effect of different Mulching
mulching materials on soil properties and leaf nutrient status of aonla under Soil pH, EC, Organic carbon, Leaf macro-
rainfed conditions of Jammu. nutrient.

Received : 07.09.2014
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Revised : 05.11.2014
The present investigation was carried out at Rainfed Research Sub-Station for Accepted : 18.03.2015
Sub-tropical fruits Raya, Jammu and Division of Fruit Science, Sher-e-Kashmir
University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu during 2013 and *Corresponding author

63
PARSHANT BAKSHI et al.,

2014. The experimental field is situated at an elevation of 332 Soil pH

m above mean sea level and lies between 32º39" North lati- A perusal of data (Table 1) revealed that effect of different
tude and 74053" East longitude. The climate of experimental mulching materials on soil pH was found to be non-significant.
site is sub-tropical with hot and dry summer, hot and humid However, the highest pH of 6.78 was observed in control and
rainy season and cold winter months. The maximum tem- lowest (6.56) in paddy straw mulch. The decreased soil pH in
perature rises up to 45ºC during summer and minimum tem- mulched trees is might be due to addition of organic matter
perature falls to 3.16ºC during winter. The mean annual rain- after decomposition of mulches; which releases organic acids
fall is about 1000-1200 mm. Twenty eight trees were selected and dissolve them from their soluble form. These findings are
for the study and laid out in randomized block experimental in line with Bhat (2004); Singh et al. (2010) and Kumar (2014),
design with one tree per treatment replicated four times. Ap- who also reported non-significant variations on soil pH with
plication of treatments was done during the spring season application of different mulching materials.
viz., on 19th February in both the years. During the course of
Soil EC (dSm-1)
study, all the trees were given uniform cultural operations as
per the package of practices for fruit crops of SKUAST-Jammu. It is obvious from the data (Table 1) that highest soil EC (0.26
The surface (0-15 cm) soil samples were analyzed for the prop- dSm-1) was found under control and lowest (0.16 dSm-1) in
erties i.e. soil reaction by pH metre, electric conductivity (EC) paddy straw mulch, but the difference among different
by EC metre, organic carbon in soil was determined by Walkley treatments could not reached up to the level of significance.
and Black’s rapid titration methods as suggested by Piper The reason behind reduction of soil EC may be because
(1966). Available N was estimated by using alkaline KMnO4 mulches reduce water evaporation of soil and so lead to
method as suggested by (Subbiah and Asija, 1956). Available reduced salt accumulation in soil and may also be due to
P content of the soil was extracted with sodium bicarbonate water-soluble salts absorbed by mulch layer leading in reduced
by (Olsen et al., 1954). It was determined in the neutral nor- EC of water when it reaches to the soil layer. These findings
mal ammonium acetate extract of soil through Flame photom- are in close conformity with the results of (Hild and Morgan,
eter. Leaf samples from the experimental trees were collected 1993) and (Kumar, 2014).
from the mid-point of the current season’s terminal, total nitro- Soil organic carbon (g kg-1)
gen content was determined by micro-Kjeldah’s method It is evident from the data (Table 1) that treatment of paddy
(A.O.A.C., 1980), phosphorus by using Vanado molybdo yel- straw mulch (5.67 g kg-1), though at par with grass mulch (5.59
low colour method (Jackson, 1973). Potassium by flame pho- g kg-1) significantly increased the soil organic carbon content
tometric method using flame photometer 130 (systronics) (Jack- over all the remaining treatments and lowest soil organic carbon
son, 1973) and total calcium was estimated by atomic absorp- of 4.61g kg-1 was found in control. This effect may be due to
tion spectrophometer (AAS 4141). The data was statistically the fact that surface applied organic mulches after
analyzed by using Panse and Sukhatme (1998) method. decomposition added nutrients and carbonaceous material
to soil which caused a steep increase in organic carbon
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION contents of the soil. These findings are in accordance with
Merwin et al. (1994); Khokhar et al. (2001); Bhat (2004); Singh
Table 1: Effect of different mulching materials on soil properties et al. (2010) and Kumar (2014) who also observed higher
(pH, EC and organic carbon) of aonla cv. NA-7 (Pooled data of 2 organic carbon contents in soil with organic mulches in
years) different fruit crops.
Soil macro-nutrient status (N, P, K, Ca and Mg kg/ha)
Treatments Soil pH Soil EC(dSm-1) Soil organic
carbon (g kg-1) Data presented in Table 2 revealed that paddy straw mulch
T 1 : Black polythene 6.72 0.23 4.96 increased the available nitrogen content in soil (231.20 kg/
T2 : White polythene 6.68 0.22 4.94 ha), though at par with saw dust mulch (229.80 kg/ha) as
T 3 : Paddy straw 6.56 0.16 5.67 compared to all the remaining treatments, whereas minimum
T4 : Saw dust 6.58 0.19 5.52 available N was recorded under control (207.61 kg/ha).
T5 : Sarkanda 6.62 0.18 5.41 Considerable improvement was also observed in P, K, Ca,
T6 : Dry grass 6.65 0.17 5.59 and Mg content (Table 2) of soil with the application of different
T7 : Control 6.78 0.26 4.61
mulching treatments. Available P (19.96 kg/ha), K (160.41 kg/
C D (p=0.05) NS NS 0.12
ha), Ca (387.14 kg/ha) and Mg (407.70 kg/ha) were found

Table 2: Effect of different mulching materials on soil macro-nutrient status of aonla cv. NA-7 (Pooled data of 2 years)

Treatments N (kg/ha) P (kg/ha) K (kg/ha) Ca (kg/ha) Mg (kg/ha)

T 1 : Black polythene 216.16 18.60 158.41 363.40 385.20
T2 : White polythene 215.90 18.34 158.07 362.91 384.10
T3 : Paddy straw 231.20 19.96 160.41 387.14 407.70
T4 : Saw dust 229.80 19.34 159.99 385.51 400.00
T5 : Sarkanda 220.50 18.95 159.61 384.61 403.10
T6 : Dry grass 225.70 19.07 159.84 385.07 402.51
T7 : Control 207.61 17.41 156.16 358.41 371.00
C D (p=0.05) 4.41 0.85 0.79 2.41 2.70

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 INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS MULCHING MATERIALS

Table 3: Effect of different mulching materials on leaf nutrient emblica (Phyllanthus emblica L.) and its potential as a food source.
status of aonla cv. NA-7 (Pooled data of 2 years) Scientia Horticulturae. 47: 99-105.
Treatments N (%) P (%) K (%) Ca (%) Bhat, D. J. 2004. Effect of herbicide, N, K and orchard floor
management practices on growth, yield and fruit quality of apricot.
T1 : Black polythene 2.88 0.16 2.88 1.69 Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture
T2 : White polythene 2.85 0.14 2.84 1.66 and Foresty, Nauni, Solan, India.
T3 : Paddy straw 3.38 0.27 3.19 2.10
T4 : Saw dust 3.22 0.23 3.12 1.85 Bhutani, V. R., Khokhar, U. U. and Raina, V. P. 1994. Effect of
T5 : Sarkanda 2.94 0.15 2.96 1.84 herbicides, mulching and clean cultivation on weed population growth
T 6 : Dry grass 2.98 0.21 2.90 1.72 and cropping of apple trees. Horticulture J. 7: 7-13.
T7 : Control 2.78 0.12 2.71 1.54 Gour, A. C. and Mukherjee, D. 1980. Recycling of organic matter
C D (p=0.05) 0.06 0.03 0.15 0.10 through mulch in relation to chemical and microbiological properties
of soil and crop yields. Plant and Soil. 56: 273-281.
Hild, A. L. and Morgan, D. L. 1993. Effects on crown growth of five
highest in paddy straw mulch as compared to all the remaining southwestern shrub species. J. Environmental Horticulture. 11(1): 41-
treatments, while remained statistically at par for N, P, K and 43.
Ca with saw dust mulch, while lowest N (207.61 kg/ha), P Jackson, M. L. 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice Hall of India
(17.41 kg/ha), K (156.16 kg/ha), Ca (358.41 kg/ha) and Mg of Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India. pp. 498.
371.00 kg/ha was found in control. Such an increase in the Jain, S. P., Tripathi, V. K., Ram, H. B. and Singh, S. 1983. Optimum
availability of nutrients may be attributed to the efficient weed stage of maturity for preservation of amla preserve, Part II. Indian
control, higher organic carbon contents, more favourable soil Food Packer. 37(6): 85-90.
moisture and temperature and fast decomposition of organic Kalra, C. L. 1988. The chemistry and technology of aonla (Phyllanthus
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mulches resulting in vector availability of nutrients in the soil
(Bhutani et al., 1994). Paddy straw mulch resulted in the Khokhar, U. U, Gautam, J. R. and Sharma, M. K. 2001. Effect of
various floor management system on growth, yield and leaf nutrient
increase in N build up probably on account of higher organic
status of olive cv. Leccino. The Horticulture J. 14(1): 43-48.
carbon and low leaching losses of N from the soil. Presence
Khopde, S. M., Priyadarshani, K. I., Mohan, H., Gawandi, V. B.,
of higher microbial population under paddy straw mulch
Satav, J. G., Yakshmi, J. V., Banavaliker, M. M., Biyani, M. K. and
could also be responsible for degradation of organic matter. Mittal, J. P. 2001. Characterizing the antioxidant activity of amla
These metabolic products of microorganisms also affect the (Phyllanthus emblica) extract. Current Science. 81(2): 185.
process of N transformation in the roots (Krasilrikov, 1958). Kim, E. J., Choi, D. G. and Jin, S. N. 2008. Effect of preharvest
The increase in available P, K and exchangeable Ca and Mg reflective mulch on growth and fruit quality of plum (Prunus domestica
contents of soils under grass mulches may be due to increased L.). Acta Horticulturae. 772: 323-326.
microbial activity, fast decomposition, mineralization of Krasilrikov, N. A. 1958. In soil micro-organisms and higher plants,
mulches in the presence of nitrogen, elimination of Ed. N. A. Krasilrikov, Academy of Sciences of USSR, Moscow, p. 263.
competitive weeds and improved soil structure. Similar Kumar, J. 1984. Effect of various systems of soil management at different
explanation has also been given by different workers (Gour levels of nitrogen in Santa Rosa plum. Ph. D thesis, H.P. Kishi Vishav
and Mukherjee, 1980 and Kumar, 1984). These results are in Vidyalaya, Palampur, Solan (H.P).
line with Khokhar et al. (2001); Bhat (2004); Singh et al. (2010) Kumar, V. 2014. Effect of different organic mulching materials on soil
and Kumar (2014), who reported increase in soil macro- properties of NA‘7’ aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) under rainfed
nutrient with mulching treatments. condition of Shiwalik foothills of Himalayas India. The Bioscan. 9(1):
Leaf macro-nutrient status (N, P, K and Ca %) 561-564.
Merwin, T. A., Stiles, W. C. and Van, E. S. H. M. 1994. Orchard
Different mulching materials were observed to have significant
ground cover management impacts on soil physical properties. Journal
effect on leaf nutrient status on aonla. Maximum leaf nutrient
of American Society of Horticultural Sciences. 119(2): 216-222.
status (N, P, K and Ca) was recorded under paddy straw mulch
as compared to minimum leaf nutrient content recorded in Nath, V., Singh, I. S. and Kumar, S. 1992. Evaluation of aonla cultivars
for their shelf-life at ambient temperature. Narendra Deva J.
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nutrient content may be attributed to minimum weed
population under mulching materials and availability of more Olsen, S. R., Cole, C. V., Watanabe, F. S. and Dean, L. A. 1954.
Estimation of available phosphorus by extraction with sodium
nutrients and moisture for better growth and their translocation
bicarbonate. U.S.D.A. Cir., p. 939.
to the leaves of mulched plants. The significant effect of
different mulching materials observed in the present studies Pande, K. K., Dimri, D. C. and Prashant, K. 2005. Effect of various
mulches on growth, yield and quality of Apple. Indian J. Horticulture.
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Pathak, R. K. 2003. Status report of genetic resource of Indian
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