The Efficiency of soil mulches in tomato cultivation systems

Abstract

The use of different types of soil cover in tomato culture can influence soil temperature, humidity and plant productivity. However, coverage when associated with cultivation techniques through staking systems can provide better productivity when compared to production systems without coverage and staking. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different soil coverings on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.), under different staking conditions. The experiment was carried out in the village of Garangau in the municipality of Campo do Brito, Sergipe. To obtain the data, the experiment took place in two stages, with each stage being evaluated four treatments with different soil coverings: biomanta with weight 600 (B600), biomanta with weight 800 (B800), soil raffia (RF) and soil without coverage (SC). It can be seen through the results that the coverings that most influenced the reduction of the soil temperature in the depth to 0.05 m, were the biomanta with weight 600 (B600), biomanta with weight 800 (B800) without staking, respectively, providing a reduction in soil temperature between -3.0ºC to -4.0ºC. It is worth mentioning that similarly, the same results were found at a depth of 0.12 m. This decrease in temperature is related to the effect of the cover and to reduce the incidence of sunlight directly on the soil, thus providing better thermal comfort to the soil. For soil moisture at a depth of 0.15 m and 0.30 m, when comparing the types of cover in the soil raffia soil (RF) without the use of staking technique showed better results. It is believed that it was mainly influenced by the type of driving system. When it comes to productivity, it can be seen that the productivity of tomato per hectare was higher when using the guidance system with tutoring for all treatments, even in the treatment which did not use cover.