Evaluation of mulching techniques in the context of weed management in citrus crop cultivation on Hills

An experiment was conducted on hill slope in Khagrachari hill district during in 2021 to observe the effect of different mulching techniques on weed infestation and performance of Binalebu-1 on hill slope. The experiment was laid out in RCBD, where the treatments, i.e. mulching with straw, mulching with Jute Geo-bag, mulching with bamboo leaves and control were imposed in plots. From year round observation most of the weeds were grasses, a few were broadleaf and only one sedge species was found.  Mulching with jute geo-bag exhibited the highest weed control efficiency (84.45%) at 270 DAT. The tallest plants (137.9cm) were found from the plots receiving the jute geo-bag at 360 DAT. The mulching with jute geo-bag treatment incurred the lowest (6.5 gm-2) weed biomass at 360 DAT. The highest number of branches/ plant (35.1) was recorded in the plots receiving mulches with jute geo-bag at 360 DAT. The highest number of flowers/plant (7.7) was produced in the plots receiving mulches with jute geo-bag at 360 DAT. The highest number of fruits/plant (6.7) was produced in the plots receiving mulches with jute geo-bag at 360 DAT. Weed biomass was negatively correlated with WCE whereas positive correlation existed between plant height and number fruits and flowers. Moreover, similar relation was observed between number of branches and number of flowers.