- University of Castilla-La Mancha, School of Agricultural Engineering / Vegetal Production and Agriculture Technology, Ciudad Real, Spain (martamaria.moreno@uclm.es)
Common practices such as the use of herbicides, petrochemical plastics and excessive tillage are widely used for weed control in both horticultural and fruit crops. The use of these unfriendly environmentally techniques has led researchers around the world to focus their searches on more sustainable alternatives based on a circular economy model. These eco-friendly practices could also be extended to other systems and crops, which would be the case of seedbeds or nursery plants. In this framework, biopolymers and papers can have a proper behavior, although their use fits better to annual herbaceous crops as result of their shorter useful live. For this reason, based on preliminary laboratory tests, we implemented a field trial consisting of the application of hydromulches of different composition and characteristics on a forest tree nursery with newly transplanted seedlings in the open field in Central Spain.
The hydromulches tested were composed of by-products from agriculture and the agri-food industry (wheat straw [S]); camelina pellet [C]; pruning wood from almond [A], elm + walnut [EW], elm + walnut + camelina, [EWC]), mixed with a binder and recycled paper paste, and were applied liquidly on the ground with subsequent solidification. Additionally, two unmulched treatments were considered as control (manual weeding and a no-weeding treatments), in a randomized complete block experiment with three replications.
Periodical measurements relative to weed control (weed number, biomass, soil cover, predominant species) and the degradation of the materials (thickness, puncture resistance, soil cover, etc.) were taken. As preliminary results, and after more than 12 months after their application, all the hydromulches behaved properly, highlighting C as the treatment that best controlled weeds and which suffered a less degradation throughout the period considered, showing it as a good alternative, mainly in organic and sustainable agricultures.
Keywords: hydromulch, weeds, sustainable agriculture, circular economy.
Acknowledgements: PID2020-113865RR-C43 (HMulchCircle)/AEI/10.13039 / 501100011033 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation).
How to cite: Moreno, M. M., Villena, J., López-Corral, T., Atance, C., Peco, J. D., Fernández, M. D. L. S., López-Perales, J. A., Morales-Rodríguez, P. A., and Moreno, C.: Hydromulches in nursery crops: an alternative tool to herbicides for weed control, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-15840, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-15840, 2025.
