Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA)

A study on “Effect of different mulching materials on yield and yield attributes of potato in Dadeldhura, District” was conducted from March to June, 2019 in Tadibata, the commanding area of potato superzone, Dadeldhura to detect the effective mulching materials for potato. Lack of irrigation and labor shortage along with high weed infestation were the problem found in the potato production in farmers level .To find out the efficiency of different mulching materials, a field experiment was conducted in RCBD design with five treatments: T1: Control, T2: Saw dust, T3: Rice straw, T4: Black plastic and T5: Rice husk and were replicated four times to find the best mulching materials that can help the farmers to improve their production practice. The data on plant height, aerial stem number, canopy and number of leaves were taken at 45, 60 and 75 days after planting (DAP) and the data on grading, diameter, dry weight were taken after harvesting of potato. After the data collection, data entry was done is MS- Excel and analysis was done by using R-studio software. From the experiment it was found that the highest tuber yield was obtained in black plastic (3.33 kg/m2) which was followed by rice straw (2.74 kg/m2) , saw dust (2.63 kg/m2), rice husk (2.55kg/m2) and lowest tuber yield was obtained in control condition (2.39 kg/m2). Similarly, the soil temperature was influenced by the use of mulching material as compared to the bare soil with highest soil temperature being recorded in black plastic and lowest recorded in control condition. In case of economics, the highest B: C ratio was found in black plastic (2.01) and minimum found in rice husk (1.64). Thus, black plastic is the most effective mulching material for the high production of potato in Dadeldhura.