Weed Occurrence, Rice Growth, and Soil Temperature as Affected by Different Biodegradable Mulching Materials in Wet Seeded Rice

In spite water direct seeding cultivation of rice has advantages in terms of laborsaving and cost-down, it demonstrates uneven seedling establishment and difficult weed management. To select an applicable mat for mulching system of water seeded rice, weed occurrence, growth and yield performances of rice, and soil temperature were evaluated in several kinds of biodegradable mulching material. Field studies were conducted at the experimental farm of National Crop Experiment Station in 1999 and 2000. Among the mats tested in 1999, Safer-mat had the greatest effect on inhibiting weed occurrence and Lawn-mat demonstrated the least efficacy of weed control (EWC) value. In Safer-mat treatment, Ludwigia prostrata was the dominant weed species but Echinochloa crus-galli was not observed. Different kinds of mulching material from the mats studied in 1999 were tested in 2000. Biodegradable polyester (PES) coated on the recycled paper for newspaper press (RP) treatments showed similar or higher EWC values than non-mulched broadcast seed rice with 2 times of herbicide application (BC-herbicide) and Safer-mat that was the most effective mat on preventing weed appearance in 1999. Immediately after mat mulching on the surface of paddy soil, five pregerminated rice seeds were manually sown in each 3cm-hole formerly punctured at 30${\times}$14 cm spacing in 2000. All the 3 kinds of mulching material tested in 2000 had better seedling stand than BC-herbicide treatment. Rice yield in PES coated with 10 thickness on RP (PES10 $\mu\textrm{m}$＋RP) was a little higher than in BC-herbicide treatment but the former produced less panicles in unit land area than the latter. PES10 $\mu\textrm{m}$＋RP demonstrated a great effect on raising soil surface temperature than non-mulching treatment throughout the period of seedling establishment.