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Biodegradable Mulching Films: A Valuable Ally for Sustainable Agriculture
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Biodegradable Mulching Films: A Valuable Ally for Sustainable Agriculture

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 8086

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eugenio Cozzolino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Caserta, Italy
Interests: horticulture; tobacco; biodegradable mulching; biofertilizers; plant nutrition; plant physiology; fertilizers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ida Di Mola

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy
Interests: agronomy; crop science; irrigation and water management; plant physiology; abiotic stress; sustainable agriculture; salinity; food crops; agricultural practices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mulching is an agricultural practice widely spread in farming systems for increasing crop productivity and fruit quality by enhancing soil micro-climate (higher temperature and moisture), but also by controlling weeds. For several years, plastic films, in particular low density polyethylene (LDPE), have been the preferred materials for soil covering, thanks to their low cost, long lifetime, and technical properties. However, these films have a major limitation: their disposal at the end of utilization. These plastic materials must be removed from the soil and adequately recycled, but this practice can be difficult and very expensive. Consequently, the plastic is too often not recovered, thereby giving rise to the phenomena of uncontrolled dispersion in the environment. 

In order to overcome these environmental pollution problems, biodegradable mulching films may be a promising alternative to plastic films. They are composed mostly of polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch, and at the end of their lifetime, can be incorporated directly into the soil or be disposed into a composting system and be biodegraded by soil microorganisms. For this Special Issue, we encourage the submission of papers regarding the following topics: (1) effect of biodegradable mulching films on crop yield and quality; (2) innovative approaches and materials for soil mulching; (3) economic and environmental evaluation of biodegradable mulching films.

Dr. Eugenio Cozzolino
Dr. Ida Di Mola
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biodegradable mulching films
  • Biodegradable materials
  • Sustainable Agriculture
  • Cellulose
  • Biodegradation
  • Shelf-life evaluation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1284 KiB  
Article
Biodegradable Mulching Film vs. Traditional Polyethylene: Effects on Yield and Quality of San Marzano Tomato Fruits
by Ida Di Mola, Eugenio Cozzolino, Lucia Ottaiano, Riccardo Riccardi, Patrizia Spigno, Milena Petriccione, Nunzio Fiorentino, Massimo Fagnano and Mauro Mori
Plants 2023, 12(18), 3203; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183203 - 7 Sep 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1482
Abstract
Mulching is a common practice for improving crop yield and obtaining an out-of-season production, but when made using plastic materials it can bring environmental problems due to the management and the disposal of films at the end of the cropping seasons. To increase [...] Read more.
Mulching is a common practice for improving crop yield and obtaining an out-of-season production, but when made using plastic materials it can bring environmental problems due to the management and the disposal of films at the end of the cropping seasons. To increase the sustainability of this practice, recently, mulching films made with biodegradable organic materials have become more widely used. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of a biodegradable mulching film on yield and qualitative traits of the San Marzano tomato fruits over two years (2014 and 2015). Two different types of mulching were tested: (i) black biodegradable film (MB12) and (ii) black low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were compared to bare soil (BS). Both mulching films elicited a 25% increase in yield, mainly due to the significantly higher number of fruits per square meter, compared to BS. Both mulching films also elicited a 9.9% increase in total soluble solids and a 57% increase in carotenoid content, while firmness showed the highest value in BS fruits. MB12 determined the highest value of the Hunter color ratio a/b of tomato fruits, followed by LDPE, while the lowest value was recorded in BS fruits. Both mulching films elicited an increase of 9.6%, 26.0%, and 11.7% for flavonoids, polyphenols, and AsA, respectively. In 2014, the MB12 degradation started at 71 days after transplant (DAT); in 2015, at 104 DAT. Therefore, replacing polyethylene with biodegradable film would seem to be an agronomically efficient and environmentally sustainable practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Mulching Films: A Valuable Ally for Sustainable Agriculture)
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13 pages, 636 KiB  
Article
Assessing Yield and Quality of Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Improved by Biodegradable Mulching Film
by Eugenio Cozzolino, Ida Di Mola, Lucia Ottaiano, Maurizio Bilotto, Milena Petriccione, Elvira Ferrara, Mauro Mori and Luigi Morra
Plants 2023, 12(1), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12010219 - 3 Jan 2023
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2650
Abstract
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic mulching films have an important function, but at the end of their lifetime pose an economic and environmental problem in terms of their removal and disposal. Biodegradable mulching films represent an alternative to LDPE with the potential to avoid [...] Read more.
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic mulching films have an important function, but at the end of their lifetime pose an economic and environmental problem in terms of their removal and disposal. Biodegradable mulching films represent an alternative to LDPE with the potential to avoid these environmental issues. In this preliminary study, we employed a biodegradable film based on Mater-Bi® (MB) in comparison with low-density polyethylene to assess their effect on the yield and particular quality traits (organoleptic and nutraceutical composition of the fruits) of muskmelon (cv Pregiato) grown on soils with different textures (clay–loam—CL and sandy loam—SL) in two private farms in South Italy. Soil temperature under the mulch was also measured. During the monitored periods, mean soil temperature under LDPE was higher (about 1.3 °C) than that under the biodegradable film and was higher in SL soil than in CL soil, at 25.5° and 24.2 °C, respectively. However, the biodegradable film was able to limit the daily temperature fluctuation, which was 1.7 °C in both soils compared with 2.3 °C recorded for LDPE. Fruit yields were higher with MB film than LDPE (+9.5%), irrespective of soil texture. MaterBi® also elicited increases in total soluble solids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity compared with LDPE films: 13.3%, 22.4%, 27.2%, and 24.6%, respectively. Color parameters of flesh, namely brightness, chroma, and hue angle were better in fruits grown on LDPE. Our findings suggest that Mater-Bi® based biodegradable mulching film is a potentially valid alternative to traditional LDPE, particularly for obtaining the agronomical benefits outlined above and for promoting environmental sustainability due to its favourable biodegradable properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Mulching Films: A Valuable Ally for Sustainable Agriculture)
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16 pages, 2253 KiB  
Article
New Mater-Bi, Biodegradable Mulching Film for Strawberry (Fragaria × Ananassa Duch.): Effects on Film Duration, Crop Yields, Qualitative, and Nutraceutical Traits of Fruits
by Luigi Morra, Maurizio Bilotto, Emiliana Mignoli, Mariarosaria Sicignano, Anna Magri, Danilo Cice, Rosaria Cozzolino, Livia Malorni, Francesco Siano, Gianluca Picariello, Sara Guerrini and Milena Petriccione
Plants 2022, 11(13), 1726; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11131726 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2894
Abstract
In the main strawberry areas of Southern Italy, cultivation is carried out by transplanting plants on raised beds (30–40 cm from ground level), mulched with black polyethylene (PE). This technique has becoming increasingly expensive due to the growing prices of plastic mulches, the [...] Read more.
In the main strawberry areas of Southern Italy, cultivation is carried out by transplanting plants on raised beds (30–40 cm from ground level), mulched with black polyethylene (PE). This technique has becoming increasingly expensive due to the growing prices of plastic mulches, the cost to remove them at the end of crop cycle, and the difficulty to dispose of black, dirty plastic films. The main objective of this research was the replacement of PE mulch with a new biodegradable mulching film Mater-Bi®-based (Novamont), characterized by an increased permanence in the field designed for long crop life. In 2021, two Mater-Bi-based, black, 18 μm thick mulching films were tested under tunnel: N5 as innovative film and N18 as commercial standard film. Black PE film, 50 μm thick was the control. Strawberry cultivars ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Elide’ were cropped on the three mulching films according to a split plot design with four replications. Harvests lasted from March to June 2021. Cvs Sabrina and Elide yielded around 40 t ha−1, while the mean effect of mulching films did not point out differences between the biodegradable mulches and PE. In 4 out of 12 harvests we analyzed samples of fruits to assess the influence of mulches on the contents of °Brix, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, and anthocyanins. On average, °Brix was clearly improved in fruits on PE compared to biodegradable films, while all the other qualitative traits resulted in being more dependent on the cultivars and times of sampling effects. Overall, biodegradable mulches are a viable alternative to PE mulch, and the innovative N5 film appeared promising for the enhancement of durability of soil coverage in a long-lasting cycle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Mulching Films: A Valuable Ally for Sustainable Agriculture)
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