These videos introduce biodegradable plastic mulches, showing how they are used from installation to till down and what is happening in the soil when the mulches are bio-degrading. Other video products introduce the goals and methods of the USDA SCRI project, Performance and Adoptability of Biodegradable Mulch for Sustainable Specialty Crop Production.
About Biodegradable Mulch
Could Biodegradable Mulches Be a New Tool for Your Production Toolbox? — This webinar introduces biodegradable mulches: what they're made of, what benefits they offer, and what producers should consider when determining whether and how to apply biodegradable plastic mulches in their production systems. An
Extension fact sheet is also available.
Biodegradable Mulch Installation and Till Down — This video shows the installation of biodegradable mulches, a process nearly identical to the laying of traditional black plastic (polyethylene) mulch. Also, see the mulch tilled into the soil using standard rototilling equipment.
Biodegradable Mulch Breakdown in Soil: Role of Microbiology — This animation shows the processes through which a biodegradable mulch is broken into its constituents -- carbon and water -- when it degrades in the soil and addresses factors that affect the rate of degradation.
About the Biodegradable Mulch Project
An Introduction to "Performance and Adoptability of Biodegradable Plastic Mulch for Sustainable Specialty Crop Production" — This video provides an overview of the USDA SCRI project, conducted jointly by the University of Tennessee, Washington State University, and Montana State University. A
text overview is also available.
Focus on Soils — Learn from a soil physicist, soil microbiologist and soil chemist how they are assessing whether and how biodegradable plastic mulchs affect soil health. This video introduces the work of the Soil Ecology group of the "Performance and Adoptability of Biodegradable Plastic Mulch for Sustainable Specialty Crop Production" project.
Innovation in Soils Research — This video addresses controlled experiments and data colllection that contribute to our understanding of biodegradation of mulch in compost and field settings.