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Legacy Effects Of Biodegradable Mulch And Soil Amendments On Vegetable Crops And The Soil, Elise V.H. Reid
Legacy Effects Of Biodegradable Mulch And Soil Amendments On Vegetable Crops And The Soil, Elise V.H. Reid
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Plastic film mulches are used in horticulture to manage weeds, improve water retention, and increase soil temperature. Bioplastics and biofabrics are potentially sustainable alternatives to plastic film; however, they have different rates of in soil degradation. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a 100% biobased polymer that degrades slowly, but could fulfill organic certification to be soil incorporated. Mater-Bi is a commercially available biodegradable plastic (bioplastic), which degrades quickly, but cannot be incorporated in organic systems. Our objectives were to determine the individual and combined effects of soil amendments and residual mulch on vegetable crop yield and soil fertility. In a two-year …