Life Sciences Commons^™

Mulch Treatment Effect On Weed Biomass And Yields Of Organic Sweetpotato Cultivars, Sochinwechi I Nwosisi, Dilip Nandwani, Dafeng Hui

Biology Faculty Research

Weeds are a challenge, particularly in organic agriculture, due to restrictions on the application of synthetic herbicides and chemicals. A preliminary cultivar evaluation trial of organic sweetpotato was conducted in 2015 at Tennessee State University certified organic farm. Three mulches: wheat straw, pine needle, and black plastic mulch, along with a control (no mulch), were evaluated for their weed management abilities in a sweetpotato field. Four cultivars of sweetpotato were planted in 0.91 m wide mulch beds with 0.3 m row spacing anddrip irrigated with four replications. Data was collected during the growing season on the dry weight of weeds …