RESPONSE OF VEGETATIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE COMPONENTS OF CHILI TO INORGANIC AND ORGANIC MULCHES

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic and inorganic mulch materials on the vegetative and reproductive components of chili cultivar Sanam (Capsicum annuum L.) Mulch treatments used in the study were (T1 without mulch, T2 transparent plastic mulch, T3 rice straw, T4 wheat straw, T5 sugarcane begas and T6 black polyethylene mulch). The results revealed that the mulch materials significantly affected physiological growth parameters. The maximum leaf area (7.0 cm²), number of fruit per plant (58.4 fruits), plant height (54.3 cm) and fruit set (86.66%) were observed when transparent plastic mulch was used. Similarly, the black polyethylene mulch produced the same results after transparent plastic mulch. The organic mulches also increased the yield components of chili. While minimum leaf area (4.0 cm²), number of fruit per plant (38.0 fruits) and plant height (32.0 cm) were recorded when no mulch material was applied to the chili plants. The results indicated that among the different mulch material, both transparent plastic mulch and black polyethylene mulch were found to be effective concerning to chili production when compared to the other uncovered plants.