Mulching: In order to grow Organic Foods farmers and companies take recourse to Methods of Organic Farming. This is a mode of growing fruits and vegetables by completely drawing on the inherent potentiality of the soil. It tries to discover and utilize all the capacities of growing and nourishing present in the soil. Doing so it uses the capacities of the soil to grow high-quality fruits and vegetables. Mulching is one of the ways in which the soil can be nourished.
Mulch is a protective layer of a material that is laid out on the top of the soil. Mulching is a simple technique. It is extremely beneficial as well. Mulches can be either organic or inorganic. Organic mulches are grass clippings, straw, bark chips and other similar materials. Inorganic mulches refer to stones, brick chips and plastic to name a few.
Benefits of Mulching
The advantages of Mulch are that it helps to protect the soil from erosion. It also helps in reducing the crust found on the topsoil from getting washed away by the rains. Mulching also helps in conserving moisture in the soil. The importance of Mulching the soil is that this helps in the reduction of the need for frequent watering. Mulching also helps in maintaining an even soil temperature. It prevents the growth of weeds. The other benefit is that it helps to keep the growing fruits and vegetables clean.
Mulching provides an insulated barrier between the soil and the air. It thereby helps to moderate the temperature. It has a moderating influence on the temperature. This means the mulched soil in the summer will be cooler than a soil that has not been mulched. During winters, mulched soils do not freeze as much. Since mulch acts as an insulating layer, mulched soils have a tendency of warming up more slowly in the season of spring. They cool down more slowly during autumn. This is in stark contrast to soils that have not been mulched.
If mulches are being used to protect plants from the winters, loose material such as straw, hay, or for that matter pine boughs which help in insulating the plants, should be resorted to. When it comes to mulching, certain factors have to be taken into consideration. These are in the nature of what is your purpose of mulching your land. Most often it is to do with moisture retention, soil improvement and helping to bring about the controlling of weeds.
Mulching thereby is the protective cover that is placed over the upper layer of soil. It helps to have a moderating effect on the soil as far as the climate of the place is concerned. Mulching helps in moisture control by retarding the process of evaporation. It helps to repel insects. A layer of mulch also helps in checking sedimentation. The velocity of the running water is helped to be kept in check. Weed control is brought about by scientific and logical means. This is spreading the mulch. This acts to check the infiltration of sunlight.
Mulching is a boon to the farmer growing food products by resorting to organic modes of production.
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