• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.38-45
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• 1998

Soil and water contamination caused by the abundant use of agricultural chemicals including herbicides and fertilizers draws public concerns since these chemicals may pollute the agricultural lands as well as the food products grown on these lands. As a method to reduce the use of agricultural chemicals mulching with thin plastic film has been commonly practised for many years. Although use of the plastic film for mulching is very effective in preventing the growth of weed, it is almost impossible to remove all of the plastic film from the agricultural land and the remaining film eventually contaminates the soils. Therefore, it is very imperative to develop a mulching material that decomposes completely to prevent soil pollution problems and to enhance the competitive edge of domestic agriculture. Mulch papers are believed to have many positive characteristics in preventing problems caused by the plastic mulch film since it decomposes completely after use. However, the basis weight of mulch papers needs to be reduced to improve its handling properties and to reduce the raw material costs of pulps. In this paper the possibilities of using domestic old corrugated containers in producing mulch papers were examined. Also use of unbleached softwood kraft pulps and dry strength additives were exploited along with two-layered sheet forming technology in decreasing the basis weight of the mulch paper. Results showed that reduction of 20g/$m^2$ of basis weight of mulch paper was possible by the appropriate raw material selection and application of strength resin. To use the mulch papers in paddy fields, however, further research to improve its durability should be pursued.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2000

As a method to reduce the sue of agricultural chemicals mulching with thin plastic films has been commonly practised for many years. Although use of plastic films for mulching is very effective in preventing herb growth it is almost impossible to remove all of the plastic films from the agricultural lands and the remaining films eventually contaminate the soils. Therefore, it is very imperative to develop a mulching material that decomposes completely to prevent soil pollution problems and to enhance the competitive edge of domestic agriculture. In this paper the possibilities of using strength resins for improving strength properties of mulch papers made from old corrugated containers were examined. Also mulch papers have been produced and applied for practical farming in upland as well as paddy field. Result showed that the usage of 0.7% of wet strength additives was effective for wet and dry strength of mulch paper. Changes of various process parameters including freeness, cationic demand, one pass retention, nitrogen content, etc. that occurred during trial production of mulch paper have been examined and discussed . It was found that paper mulching was very effective for weed control both in upland field and paddy filed.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.466-470
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• 2010

We investigated the effects of organic mulches on the tree and fruit qualities of "Niitaka" (Pyrus pyriforia) pear trees. Trees grown with rice straw mulch had significantly greater potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) concentrations in leaves compared with control trees and those mulched using bark or polyethylene, but the concentrations were below the recommended levels for these nutrients in pear leaves. Bark mulch increased fruit firmness and soluble solid (SS) levels, compared with rice straw mulch. The fruit of trees grown with bark mulch had a higher ratio of SS to total acidity in fresh fruit, and the fruit was dark red in color. The K and Ca concentrations were highest in fruit grown on trees mulched with rice straw and bark, respectively, and competition between the levels of these cations was evident in fresh fruit. Bark and rice straw mulches increased overall fruit quality, and reduced fruit stone size, whereas a polyethylene mulch, devoid of organic material, resulted in a fruit stone size similar to that of the control.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.147-151
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• 2003

Normal seed tubers and plug seedlings raised from stem cutting and mini-tubers ($10\pm3$ g) were planted or transplanted on August 20,2001 in bare soil or under transparent and black polyethylene film mulches to evaluate the effects of mulch material and seedling type on the growth and tuber yield of fall-grown potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Dejima) in Jeju region. Total tuber number per plant was 4.6 regardless of mulch treatment, and direct planting seed potatoes resulted in the greatest tubers (5.14)/plant and followed by transplanting seedlings raised from cutting and mini-tubers (4.15 and 5.15 tubers/plant). Transparent and black polyethylene film mulches increased total tuber yield by 16 and 8%, respectively, and average tuber weight by 14 and 12%, respectively, compared with no mulch (21.16 t/ha and 72.2 g/tuber). Transplanting plug seedlings raised from cutting resulted in the greatest tuber yield, followed by transplanting plug seedlings raised from mini-tubers and direct planting seed potatoes.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2005

The effect of different mulching materials on mungbean production was studied. The general objective was to assess the ecological effects of mulching materials in sustainable mungbean production. Specifically, the study aimed to determine the effects of different mulching materials on the chemical, physical and biological soil properties, on weed control and yield, and to identify mulching materials that are environmentally friendly in mungbean production. The experiment was conducted at the Fruit and Vegetables Seeds Center, Science City of $Mu/tilde{n}oz$, Nueva Ecija, Philippines from May to July 2004. The initial soil chemical properties were: pH of 6.4, 2.0 percent organic matter content, 0.10 percent total nitrogen, 22 ppm phosphorus, and 370 ppm available potassium. The soil microbial loads were $8\times10^4\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for bacteria and $14\times10^4\;CFU\;g^{-1}$ for fungi. Mushroom spent mulch increased soil organic matter with an average of 3.13 percent, nitrogen with an average of 0.16 percent and the highest number of bacterial count with $3.4\times10^8\;CFU\;g^{-1}$. Use of mulch, except rice straw mulch, generally increased mungbean yield. The best mulching material for high yield production of mungbean was black polyethylene plastic film, although environmentally unfriendly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 1976

In this study, an effort was made to find out more effective methods for vegetation establishment on denuded forest land along Cheon Bo Mountains, This area has serious sheet erosion as a major erosion process and parent material is granite gneiss which is known as one of the most erosive materials. Lespedeza bicolor, Arundinella hirta and Robinia pseudoacacia were used as ground cover species. Seeding methods were open broadcast seeding and broadcast seeding with straw mulch, dill seeding with 10cm and 20cm width, and spot seeding with 20cm and 30cm diameter. 1. On slopes less than 30 degrees, broadcast seeding method with straw mulch was the most effective way to establish vegetation cover. 2. On steep slopes more than 30 degrees, 10cm drill seeding method was more effective than the other methods. 3. Soil Texture has an influence on vegetation establishment governing soil moisture condition. Coverage and fresh weight were increased with the fine material qantity in soil. 4. In process of year, coverage was increased with fresh weight. On the other hand, survival decreased.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.859-872
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• 2015

Pebble matrix filtration (PMF) is a water treatment technology that can remove suspended solids in highly turbid surface water during heavy storms. PMF typically uses sand and natural pebbles as filter media. Hand-made clay pebbles (balls) can be used as alternatives to natural pebbles in PMF treatment plants, where natural pebbles are not readily available. Since the high turbidity is a seasonal problem that occurs during heavy rains, the use of newly developed composite clay balls instead of pure clay balls have the advantage of removing other pollutants such as natural organic matter (NOM) during other times. Only the strength properties of composite clay balls are described here as the pollutant removal is beyond the scope of this paper. These new composite clay balls must be able to withstand dead and live loads under dry and saturated conditions in a filter assembly. Absence of a standard ball preparation process and expected strength properties of composite clay balls were the main reasons behind the present study. Five different raw materials from industry wastes: Red Mud (RM), Water Treatment Alum Sludge (S), Shredded Paper (SP), Saw Dust (SD), and Sugar Mulch (SM) were added to common clay brick mix (BM) in different proportions. In an effort to minimize costs, in this study clay balls were fired to $1100^{\circ}C$ at a local brick factory together with their bricks. A comprehensive experimental program was performed to evaluate crushing strength of composite hand-made clay balls, using uniaxial compression test to establish the best material combination on the basis of strength properties for designing sustainable filter media for water treatment plants. Performance at both construction and operating stages were considered by analyzing both strength properties under fully dry conditions and strength degradation after saturation in a water bath. The BM-75% as the main component produced optimum combination in terms of workability and strength. With the material combination of BM-75% and additives-25%, the use of Red Mud and water treatment sludge as additives produced the highest and lowest strength of composite clay balls, with a failure load of 5.4 kN and 1.4 kN respectively. However, this lower value of 1.4 kN is much higher than the effective load on each clay ball of 0.04 kN in a typical filter assembly (safety factor of 35), therefore, can still be used as a suitable filter material for enhanced pollutant removal.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2015

This study was carried out to elucidate the effects of organic mulching materials on the weed inhibition and the growth of young jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Miller) trees from 2012 to 2013. Four organic mulching materials (rice straw, rice hull, sawdust and wood chip) were treated on jujube tree field in 2012. The range of weed control values was 96~98% in 2012. In 2013, the weed control values of rice straw, rice hull, sawdust and wood chip mulching were 7%, 60%, 27%, and 79%, respectively. The growth of young jujube trees was highest in wood chip mulching, whereas that in rice hull mulching was lowest. These results suggest that wood chip can be useful as a mulching material for weed control in jujube orchards.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 1999

A numerical model using soil surface energy balance and soil heat flow equations to estimate mulched soil temperature was developed. The required inputs data include weather data, such as global solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed, atmospheric water vapor pressure, the optical properties of mulching material, and soil physical properties. The observed average soil temperature at 50 cm depth was used as the initial value of soil temperature at each depth. Soil temperature was simulated starting at 0 hour at an interval of 10 minutes. The model reliably described the variation of soil temperature with time progress and soil depth. The correlation between the estimated and measured temperature yielded coefficient values of 0.961, 0.966 for 5cm and 10cm depth of the bare soil, respectively, 0.969, 0.965 for the paper mulched soil, and 0.915, 0.938 for the black polyethylene film mulched soil. The percentages of absolute differences less than 2$^{\circ}$C between soil temperatures measured and simulated at 10 minute interval were 97.4% and 98.5% for 5 cm and 10cm for the bare soil, respectively, and 95.8% and 97.4% for the paper mulched soil, and 70.1% and 92.5% for the polyethylene film mulched soil. The results indicated that the model was able to predict the soil temperature fairly well under mulched condition. However, in the night time, the model performance was a little poor as compared with day time due to the difficulty of accurate determination of the atmospheric long wave radiation.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2020

To improve the nitrogen reduction capability of stormwater treatment systems subjected to intermittent saturation, organic materials are often added as filter media. However, these materials can be an additional source of organic carbon and increase the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the outflow. In this study, different types of organic filter media were subjected to a batch leaching test to observe and quantify the release of COD. Results reveal that the initial pH of the tap water used for soaking which is 7.5-7.7 is conducive to the release of organics from the media to the leachate. The highest amount of COD released was observed in yard clippings and woodchip followed by compost and bark mulch. The leaching of organics also increased as the size of the media decreases due to higher surface area per volume. In addition, empirical regression analysis predicted that COD from these organic media will be exhausted from the material in 3-5 months to up to 26 months depending on the type of media. The results of this study can serve as a guide in estimating the potential release of COD in organic media in order to ensure their safe application in stormwater treatment facilities.