Why Mulch is Important
A layer that is put on the surface of a farm to boost soil fertility and soil moist conservation is called mulch. Mulch have the following benefits.
Obviously, many farmers opt for mulch to conserve the soil moisture and allow normal growth of plant despite the harsh weather condition. Soil moisture is trapped and returned back into the soil in water form by mulch through soil temperature regulation. Food security is usually guaranteed in a country whose farmer use techniques like mulching to grow food during the dry season. Organic mulch like the alfalfa mulch traps the moist that tries to escape into atmosphere and return it back to the soil.
The second importance of mulch is that it protects the top fertile soil from being eroded by rainwater. The top fertile soil is usually loose and vulnerable to all types of soil erosion. In case topsoil which is rich in mineral and fertility is carried away, the land becomes unproductive to a farmer. Soil barrenness can cause a farm to be unproductive leading to famine and hunger. Top soil can also be eroded by strong wind which blows away the loose soil. A land that has lost its loose topsoil becomes so difficult to till or work on because what remains is the hard soil which is unproductive.
The use of mulching on a farm improves the fertility. When organic mulch decompose in the soil, the fertility is boosted. This helps to reduce the amount of inorganic chemical fertilizer used on a farm which is quite expensive while mulch is very cheap. The acidity of the soil can naturally be regulated by the use of mulch which decomposes and alters the soil PH depending on the composition of the plant used as mulch.
Weeds are unable to grow in a farm whose surface has been applied with mulch. When the mulch is laid on the surface of the soil, it reduces the supply of some components necessary for seed germination. Air, water, warmth, and minerals are some of the necessary requirements of seed germination. The supply of air is reduced by a great percentage leading to failure of weed seed to germinate and instead decompose and become manure which boosts the soil fertility.
The affordability of mulch is another advantage of using mulch in your farm. Mulch does not require specialized skills to prepare. Companies that sell mulch have favorable prices and they deliver the mulch to the farm of a customer.
Sixth, you can use mulch a way of decorating your farm or land. You can use beautiful river stones o mulch trees in your compound. They contain different colors and some are shiny and to add on the beauty of a tree or flowers makes the environment look nice.
Lastly, mulch is environmentally friendly because they decompose very fast as oppose to other methods of farming like the use of fertilizes. When mulch decompose and become manure, the water retention rate of the soil is improved.