Atti del XLV Convegno della Società Italiana di Agronomia
Sassari, 20-22 Settembre 2016
Effect of Different Mulching Films on Yield and Quality of Zucchini Grown in Greenhouse Eugenio Cozzolino1, Ida Di Mola2, Vincenzo Leone1, Luigi Giuseppe Duri2, Laura Gioia2, Massimo Fagnano2, Mauro Mori2 1CREA-Consiglio
per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Laboratorio di Caserta eugenio.cozzolino@crea.gov.it 2Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli, IT, ida.dimola@unina.it
Introduction The use of plastic films for soil mulching is an already consolidated practice; it allows 1) to reduce water and pesticide consumption, 2) to contain soil-borne pathogens and weeds, 3) to protect the cultivation area against erosion. But the principal effect of plastic films is to increase the yield and quality of horticultural crops, but also to lengthen the market availability of the products (early or delayed production). In this regard, in the last years, the use of plastic colored photo-selective film is increasing. Still, after the use, the plastic films become “waste” and so they must be disposed in many ways. The plastic waste can be transported to landfills, collected and recycled, or burned in incineration plants to produce energy (Kapanen et al., 2008). The recovered plastics are contaminated by pesticides, soil and biological waste, making the recycling process expensive and time-consuming (Scott, 1999). In order to increase the sustainability of this agricultural practices and to overcome the disposal problems of conventional plastics, films based on biodegradable and renewable agricultural raw materials can nowadays be used to an ever-increasing extent (Malinconico et al., 2002). Methods The research aimed to verify the effect of different mulching films on productive behaviour (quantity and quality) of zucchini grown in greenhouse. The soil of trial was sandy-loam with 1.7% of organic matter, 0.11% of nitrogen and high content in potassium. The trial was carried out at the experimental field Gussone Park of Department of Agriculture (N 40° 48.870’; E 14° 20.821’; 70m asl) in Portici (Naples): The experimental treatments were: - not covered soil: control - biodegradable film with 15 microns thickness (MB15) - low density polyethylene with 15 microns thickness (LDPE) - red polyethylene photo-selective films with 25 microns thickness (RED) The treatments were replicated three times and distributed at randomized blocks. The films were placed manually in the last decade of March 2015 and the transplanting was made on 27 March. The plant density was 1.2 plant per square meter; the harvests were made on alternate days, from 27 April to 19 June 2015 for a total of 23 days. The crop practices were ordinary. The cultivar tested was “Altea”, a Syngenta hybrid; its fruit is light green and mottled, it is harvested with flower at a length of 20-22 cm. At each harvest the number of marketable fruit and their fresh weight were measured; besides, we considered the sums of early eight harvests as “early yield”. In three harvests (early, intermediate, final) the following measurements were also made: dry matter (after oven drying at 50°C until constant weight); Brix degree (Refractometer Atago); texture (Penetrometer BCE with 8 mm probe); color (Colorimeter at reflectance Minolta Chromameter CR200). The data were analyzed with MSTAT software (Crop and Soil Science Department, Michigan State University, Version 2.0).
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