Effect of Woven Jute Agro Textile Mulch on Soil Health and Productivity of Banana (Musa domestica L.) in New Alluvial Soil

To evaluate the effects of jute agro textile mulches on yield and yield attributes, water use efficiency of banana as well as physicochemical and biological properties of soil under banana production. The study was conducted in the experimental farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India for two consecutive years from March to February of 2017-2018 and 2018 - 2019. The experiment was carried out using a randomized block design with four treatments and five replicates taken Banana (variety Singapuri) as a test crop. The treatments (T), composed of different strength of jute agro textile (JAT) used as mulching material. All the data regarding yield, yield attributes, crop water use efficiency and soil properties were recorded accordingly. The response of yield over control was 32.52 t/ha, 38.61 t/ha, 43.05 t/ha in treatments T2- 500 GSM, T3 - 800 GSM and T4 - 1000 GSM respectively where GSM is gram per square meter. Though the best results were obtained in T4- 1000 GSM, in terms of cost-benefit ratio T3- 800 GSM proved more beneficial than the other treatments. The average water use efficiency of the crop increased significantly by 96.9% (on an average) over control for using the jute agro textile mulch. Among all the treatments, T3 exhibited the most promising effect on improving yield and other attributes along with maintaining sustainability because it provided the most favourable soil condition compared to other mulches for banana.