Evaluation of plastic mulch effects on cucumber and tomato yields at flowering and production stages.

Plastic mulch is one of the effective ways to conserve water in the soil reservoir to be uptaken gradually by plants. Combination of plastic mulch and drip irrigation was popularized in the United State for more than two decades and recently in some parts of Iran, due to “quicker to market” benefit of faster seed germination and plant growth. However, the combination of plastic and furrow irrigation has not yet been fully examined in the field to find if there is any effect on soil water conservation and likelihood increase in the yield. The objective of this study was to find the effect of plastic mulch along with furrow irrigation on cucumber and tomato yield in the field at flowering and production stages. For this purpose, a series of experiments were performed in a field in Najaf Abad city in Esfahan province, Iran. Experimental layout consisted of three treatments: furrows without mulch, furrows conjunction with opaque (or clear) plastic mulch and furrows conjunction with black plastic mulch for both cucumber and tomato independently. Each treatment was replicated three times. The soil moisture content was monitored during the season and crops yield were estimated and the results were compared to control (furrows without plastic mulch). Overall, there was a significant difference in soil moisture retention between clear plastic and control and also between yields resulted from furrows with clear, black and without plastic mulches for both cucumber and tomato crops.