Crop growth in strawberry is influenced by spacing and mulch material. The experiment was undertaken for exploring the response of plant spacing and mulch material on plant spread which is an important growth character of Strawberry. The trial was arranged in factorial randomised block design (RBD). It included twenty treatments in triplicate replications consisting of four distinct mulch materials namely, paddy straw, red colored mulch, silver-black colored mulch and without mulch along with five plant spacings namely, 20 cm × 30 cm, 30 cm × 30 cm, 30 cm × 40 cm, 40 cm × 40 cm and 40 cm × 60 cm. The pooled data showed that silver-black colored mulch in combination with plant spacing of 40 cm × 40 cm produced the higher plant spread in direction of North-South (48.47 cm) as well as East-West (50.81 cm), respectively, in strawberry at the end of the crop duration. It can be concluded that the treatment combination of silver-black colored mulch with plant spacing of 40 cm × 40 cm was recognized as the more efficacious growth approach in terms of plant spread for strawberry which may have effect on crop yield.
Datta, H.S., Barua, P.C., Kotoky, U., Das, R., Saikia, H., Nath, H.K.D., 2025. Growth performance of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) as influenced by plant spacing and mulch. Research Biotica 7(2), 30-37. DOI: 10.54083/ResBio/7.2.2025/30-37.
Fragaria × ananassa Duch, Mulch, Plant spread, Spacing, Strawberry
Ali, A., Gaur, G.S., 2007. Effect of mulching on growth, fruit yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). The Asian Journal of Horticulture 2(1), 149-151.
Aruna, P., Sudagar, I.P., Manivannan, M.I., Rajangam, J., Natarajan, S., 2007. Effect of fertigation and mulching for yield and quality in tomato cv. PKM-1. Asian Journal of Horticulture 2(2), 50-54.
Avari, R.F., 1990. Effect of spacing and nitrogen on growth, flowering and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Lemon in South Gujarat condition. M.Sc. (Agri) Thesis, Gujarat Agricultural University, S.K. Nagar, Gujarat.
Bakshi, P., Bhat, D.J., Wali, V.K., Sharma, A., Iqbal, M., 2014. Growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Chandler as influenced by various mulching materials. African Journal of Agricultural Research 9(7), 701-706. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2013.7983
Ban, D., Žanić, K., Dumičić, G., Gotlin Čuljak, T., Goreta Ban, S., 2009. The type of polythene mulch impacts vegetative growth, yield and aphid populations in watermelon production. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment 7(3/4), 543-550.
Chanda, S., Roychoudhary, N., 1991. The effect of time of planting and spacing on growth, flowering and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Siracole. Horticulture Journal 4(2), 53-56.
Das, B.C., Maji, S., Mulieh, S.R., 2010. Response of soil covers on guava cv. L-49. Journal of Crop and Weed 6(2), 10-14.
Das, K., Das, B., Paul, K., Alam, M.B., 2022. Mulching and spacing affects growth, yield and fruit quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) under terai zone of West Bengal. Journal of Krishi Vigyan 10(2), 237-240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/2349-4433.2022.00040.X
Datta, H.S., Barua, P.C., Kotoky, U., Das, R., Saikia, H., Nath, H.K.D., 2024. Impact of plant spacing and mulch on growth parameters of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). Journal of Experimental Agriculture International 46(5), 926-936. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/JEAI/2024/v46i52448
Deshmukh, H.N., Ramdevputra, M.V., Sahare, H.A., 2014. Effect of spacing and gibberellic acid (GA3) on growth parameters and yield of African marigold (Tagetetes erecta L.) cultivars. Trends in Biosciences 7(22), 3622-3627.
Dhemre, J.K., Shirsath, N.S., Naphade, A.S., 1997. Effect of different plant densities and season on flowering of China aster. Journal of Soils and Crops 7(2), 136-138.
Dubey, R.K., Kumar, R., Poonam., 2002. Effect of planting time and spacing on Cosmos. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture 6, 46-47.
Ezaddin, N.A., Salih, R.F., 2022. Mulch application and plant spacing influence on growth traits, pests, insects and weeds in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) varieties. ZANCO Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences 34(1), 120-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21271/ZJPAS.34.1.12
Hazarika, T.K., Lalrinfeli, L., Lalthlamuani, L., Lalchhanmawia, L., Nautiyal, B.P., 2019. Effect of planting density on growth, yield and quality of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cv. Camarosa. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 89(3), 489-493. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v89i3.87594
Janakiram, T., Rao, T.M., 1995. Effect of plant density on genetic parameters in African marigold. Indian Journal of Horticulture 52(4), 309-312.
Jat, R., 2006. Effect of spacing and fertilizer on plant growth, quality and yield of flowers of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Naraingi Gainda. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Kader, M.A., Singha, A., Begum, M.A., Jewel, A., Khan, F.H., Khan, N.I., 2019. Mulching as water-saving technique in dryland agriculture: Review article. Bulletin of the National Research Centre 43, 147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-019-0186-7
Kijchavengkul, T., Auras, R., Rubino, M., Ngouajio, M., Fernandez, R.T., 2008. Assessment of aliphatic-aromatic copolyester biodegradable mulch films. Part I: Field study. Chemosphere 71(5), 942-953. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.10.074
Kousalya Bai, J.M., Biradar, M.S., Shashidhar, T.R., Salakinkop, S.R., 2023. Growth and yield response of strawberry cultivars under northern transitional tract of Karnataka. Journal of Farm Sciences 36(01), 106-108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61475/jfm.v36i01.326
Lopez-Bellido, F.J., Lopez-Bellido, L., Lopez-Bellido, R.J., 2005. Competition, growth and yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.). European Journal of Agronomy 23(4), 359-378. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2005.02.002
Meena, R.L., Bunker, R.R., Ram, R.B., Meena, D.C., Meena, A.K., Meena, S.K., Salvi, A., 2023. The efficacy of different mulching with spacing on growth and yield of strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) cv Chandler. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 35(5), 59-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2023/v35i52821
Mohanty, C.R., Behera, T.K., Samantaray, D., 1993. Effect of planting time and planting density on growth and flowering in African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. African Yellow. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture 1(2), 55-60.
Neetu., Sharma, S.P., 2018. Evaluation of strawberry cultivars for growth and yield characteristics in plain region of Chattisgarh, India. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 7(2), 2835-2840. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.702.345
Pandey, P., Nandre, D.R., Patil, S.D., Patil, R.V., Shirsath, R., 2024. Growth and yield performance of strawberry cultivars under different growing conditions in Maharashtra, India. Journal of Advances in Biology and Biotechnology 27(12), 1-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/jabb/2024/v27i121748
Panse, V.G., Sukhatme, P.V., 1985. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p. 361.
Paranjpe, A.V., Cantliffe, D.J., Stoffella, P.J., Lamb, E.M., Powell, C.A., 2008. Relationship of plant density to fruit yield of ‘Sweet Charlie’ strawberry grown in a pine bark soilless medium in a high-roof passively ventilated greenhouse. Scientia Horticulturae 115(2), 117-123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2007.08.009
Pires, R.C.M., Folegatti, M.V., Passos, F.A., Arruda, F.B., Sakai, E., 2006.Vegetative growth and yield of strawberry under irrigation and soil mulches for different cultivation environments. Scientia Agricola (Piracicaba, Brazil) 63(5), 417-425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90162006000500001
Pratibha, C., Gupta, Y.C., Dhiman, S.R., Gupta, R.K., 2018. Effect of planting dates and spacing on growth and flowering of French marigold Sel. ‘FM-786’. African Journal of Agricultural Research 13(37), 1938-1941. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2015.10227
Qureshi, K.M., Hassan, F., Hassan, Q., Qureshi, U.S., Chaughati, S., Saleem, A., 2012. Impact of cultivation systems on growth and yield of strawberry cv. Chandler. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research 25(2), 129-135.
Ravindran, D.V.L., Rao, R.R., Reddy, E.N., 1986. Effect of spacing and nitrogen levels on growth, flowering and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). South Indian Horticulture 34(5), 320-323.
Reddy, L.S., Rajasekhar, M., Suchitra, V., Jyothi, G., Naveen Kumar, B., 2024. Evaluation of plant spread of strawberry varieties in vertical farming using different potting media. International Journal of Research in Agronomy 7(9, Part C), 202-206. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33545/2618060X.2024.v7.i9c.1481
Saren, S., Das, A., 2023. Effect of sulfuric acid scarification followed by organic mulching for papaya seedling growth and development, in pot culture. Research Biotica 5(3), 117-121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54083/ResBio/5.3.2023/117-121
Sharma, R.R., Sharma, V.P., Pandey, S.N., 2004. Mulching influences plant growth and albinism disorder in strawberry under subtropical climate. Acta Horticulturae 662, 187-191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.662.25
Sharma, N.C., Sharma, S.D., Spehia, R.S., 2013. Effect of plastic mulch colour on growth, fruiting and fruit quality of strawberry under polyhouse cultivation. International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management 4(2), 314-316.
Sharma, G., Yadav, A., Thakur, M., 2014. Studies on growth and flowering attributes of different strawberry cultivars (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) in Himachal Pradesh. Asian Journal of Advanced Basic Sciences 3(1), 1-4.
Sheoran, O.P., Tonk, D.S., Kaushik, L.S., Hasija, R.C., Pannu, R.S., 1998. Statistical software package for agricultural research workers. In: Recent Advances in Information Theory, Statistics & Computer Applications. (Eds.) Hooda, D.S. and Hasija, R.C. Department of Mathematics Statistics, CCS HAU, Hisar (Haryana). pp. 139-143.
Siddappa, B., Hanuman, N.M., Prashanth, P., Saida, N.D., 2018. Effect of different plant spacings on growth performance of selected Daisy (Aster amellus L.) cultivars in southern zone Telangana. International Journal of Chemical Studies 6(5), 2740-2743.
Singh, R., Asrey, R., 2005. Growth, earliness and fruit yield of micro-irrigated strawberry as affected by planting time and mulching in semi-arid regions. Indian Journal of Horticulture 62(2), 148-151.
Sonkar, P., Ram, R.B., Meena, M.L., 2012. Effect of various mulch materials and spacing on growth, yield and quality of strawberry. HortFlora Research Spectrum 1(4), 323-327.
Tiwari, R.K., Meena, M.L., Chaturvedi, S.K., Ram, R.B., 2010. Influence of spacing and nitrogen on growth and yield of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi. Horticulture Journal 23(1), 26-29.
Wankhade, S., Gupta, N.S., Deshmukh, M., Rathod, N.G., Tikait, A.A., 2025 [Online: Nov, 2024]. Effect of spacing on growth and yield of daisy (Aster amellus L.) Plant Archives 25(S1), 1791-1796. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51470/PLANTARCHIVES.2025.v25.supplement-1.245
