Mulching

What is mulch?

Web definitions for mulch Any loose material placed over the soil to control weeds and conserve soil moisture. Usually this is a coarse organic matter, such as leaves, clippings or bark, but plastic sheeting and other commercial products can also be used.

The advantages of mulching is the avoidance of water loss through evaporation, increase microorganism in the soil, increase water retention, prevention of soil erosion during rainfall, prevention of nutrient loss, prevention of the soil becoming baked hard and cracked.

The disadvantages of mulching is in excess, it may prevent adequate air flow, encourages pests and fungal diseases, shelter slugs and snails.

Instead of dead materials used as mulch, a living leguminous crop such as velvet bean (mucuna), green gram (mung bean), dhaincha (sesbania aculata), groundnut and soya bean may be grown as a cover crop. The advantages is that there will be no need to collect materials, it is more effective and long lasting, it also provides nitrogen fixation to the main crop and it is a way of using solar energy to produce biomass, a source of soil fertility.