Mulching is bringing good results in crops such as cucumber, sponge gourd, snake gourd, tomato, chilli, bitter gourd, aubergine, watermelon and squash. Following on from this, mulching used for horticultural crops is now being used in field crops too.

The mulching paper used for various vegetables not only retains moisture but also supplies nutrients to the crop, while the use of weedicides and pesticides is falling. So farmers in Zajira upazila of Shariatpur are profiting from artificial mulching.

Fields are covered in white polythene, with bushy green plants peeping out through small holes. This technology of covering the field with polythene is called artificial mulching. It is mainly used now to control soil moisture and protect fields from weeds.

In 2015, under an agriculture unit implemented by the NGO SDS and funded by PKSF, a farmer named Lutfor Akon of Chhoto Krishnapur in Senerchar union of Zajira upazila first grew cucumbers using mulching.

Lutfor succeeded with cucumbers, and since then mulching has spread in Zajira. Various vegetables are now grown with mulching on about 200 acres in the upazila, including cucumber, sponge gourd, snake gourd, tomato, chilli, bitter gourd, aubergine, watermelon and squash.

Lutfor Akon said he first started growing vegetables on 16 decimals of his father's land, growing improved cucumbers with mulching. It cost Tk 23,000, and after all expenses he earned about Tk 50,000.

He now grows cucumber, bitter gourd, snake gourd, tomato and sponge gourd in turn on 6 bighas of land in the area, with five labourers working on it. After all costs, he earns about Tk 3 lakh a year from selling vegetables.

In the mulched fields of Sumon Chokdar, Kuddus Molla and Mamun Sheikh in the Mirashar area of Zajira, cucumber, bitter gourd, snake gourd, tomato and sponge gourd plants were seen hanging with vegetables. The farmers said mulching is an environment-friendly way of growing poison-free vegetables.

Mulching means covering the base of plants, vegetable fields and garden beds in a special way while farming, and plastic mulching is now becoming popular. The farmers said they are profiting because yields are good with this method and market prices are good.

Agriculturist Md Khaji Alam, agriculture officer of SDS, said: "In 2015, with PKSF funding implemented by SDS, we started mulching through farmers in Zajira and also carried out research. It showed that yields are good. Grass does not grow with this method, less fertiliser is needed and plants grow fast. Above all, there is less disease. Because the crops are good, farmers have adopted the method. This year various vegetables are being grown with mulching on about 200 acres in the upazila. We are standing by the farmers and helping them."

Zajira Upazila Agriculture Officer Agriculturist Md Jamal Hossain said mulching is one of their initiatives to expand environment-friendly technology. It lowers costs on the one hand and cuts irrigation and pesticide costs on the other. Plants also grow fast because of the reflection of sunlight, and mulching can be used at any time of year. "We are working through various projects to speed up the spread of mulching," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.