STUDIES ON EFFECT OF MULCHING ON SOIL MICROBIAL POPULATION IN ACID LIME (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle)

An experiment was conducted at Fruit Research Farm, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh to study the effects of organic and inorganic mulching on soil microbial population in acid lime using Randomized Block Design. The study revealed that the microbial population of the soil was found to be highly significant. The highest microbial population count for bacteria was observed in paddy straw mulch (83.45 × 10 5 cfu/g) followed by rice husk mulch (74.88 × 10 5 cfu/g) and minimum was found in control (14.06 × 10 5 cfu/g). Likewise, the highest microbial population count for fungi was observed in rice husk mulch (119.34 ×10 5 cfu/g) followed by paddy straw mulch (54.77 ×10 5 cfu/g). The study revealed that organic mulching treatment has higher micriobial population as compared to inorganic mulches which might be due to the supply of large amount of carbon which serves as a major food source for fungi and bacteria.