STUDIES ON EFFECT OF MULCHING ON SOIL MICROBIAL POPULATION IN ACID LIME (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Fruit Research Farm, College of Horticulture
and Forestry, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh to study the effects of organic and inorganic
mulching on soil microbial population in acid lime using Randomized Block Design. The
study revealed that the microbial population of the soil was found to be highly significant. The
highest microbial population count for bacteria was observed in paddy straw mulch (83.45 ×
105 cfu/g) followed by rice husk mulch (74.88 × 105 cfu/g) and minimum was found in control
(14.06 × 105
cfu/g). Likewise, the highest microbial population count for fungi was observed in
rice husk mulch (119.34 ×105 cfu/g)
followed by paddy straw mulch (54.77 ×105 cfu/g). The
study revealed that organic mulching treatment has higher micriobial population as compared
to inorganic mulches which might be due to the supply of large amount of carbon which
serves as a major food source for fungi and bacteria