The Use of Hydromulching as an Alternative to Plastic Films in an Artichoke ( Cynara cardunculus cv. Symphony) Crop: A Study of the Economic Viability

Josefa López-Marín, Miriam Romero, Amparo Gálvez, Francisco Moisés del Amor, Maria Carmen Piñero and José Manuel Brotons-Martínez
Additional contact information
Josefa López-Marín: Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, IMIDA, 30150 Murcia, Spain
Miriam Romero: Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, IMIDA, 30150 Murcia, Spain
Amparo Gálvez: Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, IMIDA, 30150 Murcia, Spain
Francisco Moisés del Amor: Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, IMIDA, 30150 Murcia, Spain
Maria Carmen Piñero: Department of Crop Production and Agri-Technology, IMIDA, 30150 Murcia, Spain
José Manuel Brotons-Martínez: Department of Economic a Financial Studies, Miguel Hernández University, 03203 Elche, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The use of mulching in agriculture suppresses the weeds around crop plants, enhances the nutrients status of soil, controls the soil structure and temperature, and reduces soil water evaporation. Excessive use of low-density polyethylene mulches is contributing to the accumulation of high amounts of plastic wastes, an environmental problem for agricultural ecosystems. Fragments of plastic from such wastes can be found in soils, in water resources, and in organisms, including humans. The objective of this work was to study the economic viability of the use of different hydromulches in an artichoke crop. Three blends were prepared by mixing paper pulp (recycled from used paper) and cardboard (from paper mills) with different additives: wheat straw (WS), rice hulls (RH), and substrate used for mushroom cultivation (MS). These were compared with low-density polyethylene (Pe), a treatment without mulching on bare soil where hand weeding was performed (HW), and a treatment without mulching on bare soil where herbicide was applied (H). The results indicate that the use of hydromulch in an artichoke crop represents a good alternative for reducing plastic waste in agriculture. The net profits of the hydromulch treatments (MS, WS, RH) were higher than for HW and H, and slightly lower than for Pe. The most profitable treatment was Pe (€0.69 m −3 ), followed by RH (€0.59 m −3 ), WS (€0.58 m −3 ), MS (€0.47 m −3 ), HW (€0.36 m −3 ), and H (€0.32 m −3 ). A sensitivity analysis showed a probability of negative results of 0.04 in Pe, 0.13 in SM, 0.08 in WS, and 0.07 in RH, so the probability that the grower will make a profit is greater than 0.9 with the use of mulch (except mushroom substrate) or polyethylene.

Keywords: Monte Carlo simulation; value at risk; eco-friendly; microplastic; mulch; weed control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5313/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5313/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:5313-:d:551557

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().