ECONOMICS OF MUSKMELON (CUCUMIS MELO L.) INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT PLASTIC MULCHES AND BIO-MULCH

摘要

Plasticulture is crucial to Indian agriculture in view of the changing technological scenario for boosting crop yields and productivity. It is actually a boon to dryland farmers. Major advantages of using plastic mulch to retain soil moisture, prevent nutrient leaching, provide weed control, reduce insect and disease damage, increase earliness, yield and quality of certain vegetable crops. The present investigation was carried out during summer season 2011 at Horticulture Instructional Farm, Department of Horticulture, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar (Gujarat), India. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with four replications and nine treatments viz., (T_1) black polyethylene mulch, (T_2) white polyethylene mulch, (T_3) silver polyethylene mulch, (T_4) transparent polyethylene mulch, (T_5) red polyethylene mulch, (T_6) yellow polyethylene mulch, (T_7) blue polyethylene mulch, (T_8) biological mulch and (T_9) control (no mulch). The results revealed that soil covered with silver polyethylene mulch achieving the maximum gross return ((£)4,04,760), net return ((£)3,38,895) and cost: benefit ratio (1:6.14) in muskmelon.