Agriculture Topic
Mulching
- Read notes
- Flashcards
- Quiz
- Confident
Study focus - 3 things
- Mulching means covering soil around plants with organic or inorganic material
- Mulch helps conserve moisture, reduce weeds, protect soil, and sometimes control pests
- Different mulches have different benefits and drawbacks
Section 1What mulching is
Mulching is covering the soil surface around plants. Farmers use materials such as dry grass, straw, leaves, compost, wood chips, plastic sheets, or stones. Here's the trick: mulch protects the soil like a cover, not like fertiliser alone.
Section 2Types of mulches
Organic mulches come from living things, such as grass, leaves, straw, and compost. Inorganic mulches do not break down easily, such as plastic, stones, or synthetic fabric. Organic mulches can improve soil as they decay.
Section 3Benefits of mulching
Mulch helps keep moisture in the soil, reduces weed growth, prevents soil splash, reduces erosion, keeps soil cooler, and can improve soil structure. In dry parishes like parts of St. Elizabeth, moisture conservation is especially useful.
Section 4Pest and weed control
Mulching is a cultural control method because it changes the growing conditions. It blocks light from weed seeds and can reduce soil splash that spreads some diseases. Watch out: thick, wet mulch too close to stems can also hide pests or encourage rot.
Examples
A farmer covers soil around tomato plants with dry grass. What is this practice called?
This is mulching because the farmer is covering the soil around plants with protective material.
A pepper farmer in a dry area uses straw mulch. Give two benefits.
Straw mulch can conserve soil moisture and reduce weed growth. It may also reduce erosion and soil splash.
Now let's water it
Session runs notes to flashcards to quiz back-to-back.