Researchers have found that plastic mulches used to promote strawberry growth shed large amounts of plastic mulch pieces. These particles have been shown to adversely affect soil quality, questioning the long-term viability of their use. The survey results are likely to apply to the use of plastics in agricultural production worldwide.

Presenting his work at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Lyon, PhD researcher Dr. Ekta Tiwari (from the Sistle group at Cal State Polytechnic State University) said: “We’re seeing huge amounts of macroplastic plastic material — particles larger than 5mm — falling where Mulch is. It’s used to increase strawberry yields for decades or longer. It can stay in the ground for a while.”

Plastics such as polyethylene are increasingly used in agriculture, such as tunnels. Plastic mulching films are widely used in agriculture, where they provide a number of advantages. They are compacted around the base of the plant, which can help control weeds and pathogens, reduce water evaporation, and prevent soil contamination of the fruit (this is especially important for strawberries).

Mulch is applied in rows and removed after the season’s crop production is complete. However, even careful land management by the farmers does not guarantee that all plastic has been removed, because bits of soil adhered to the soil remain during removal. After decades of years of practice and removal of plastic mulching, the researchers observed that plastic particles accumulate in farm soil, even in truly well-managed fields. The researchers looked for macroplastics, which are pieces of plastic larger than 5 mm in diameter.

Ekta Tiwari continued, “We did a systematic survey of strawberry fields after seasonal removal of this plastic packaging. We found that the distribution was quite even. We found up to 213,500 macroplastic particles per hectare on the surface of the field alone. It contains underground particles that we did not examine. Additionally, now the same soil “We analyze samples for microplastics with particles less than 5 mm in diameter; they are not yet included in our conclusions.”

Most of the particles are polyethylene (identified by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). In preliminary findings, the researchers found that as the level of macroplastic pollution increased, soil moisture content, microbial respiration, and nitrogen available to plants decreased.

Dr. “Plastic mulch is beneficial, but at the expense of long-term soil quality. It’s difficult and expensive to remove these particles from the soil, so once they get there they can stay there indefinitely,” says Tiwari.

“We tend to think of strawberries as just something to enjoy, but this shows that even delicious products like fresh strawberries can be costly to the environment. We’re working with growers to see if we can cut those costs.”

There are alternatives to using polyethylene mulch, such as biodegradable plastic mulch, or natural mulch such as straw, but these options come at a price. However, the use of plastic in agriculture is also increasingly regulated.

Professor Sean Schaeffer (University of Tennessee, Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, USA) said: “Plastics, and especially plastic mulch, are vital to sustaining agricultural production. They are used for a variety of purposes, including soil moisture retention, heating/cooling, and weed or pest control. The use of agricultural plastics is increasing worldwide, and California is the largest consumer of agricultural plastics in the United States.”

“Research into the fate and transport of plastic in soil and water systems is relatively new, so this type of research is vital to broadening our understanding of the scale of the plastic problem. We currently know relatively little about the distribution, size, and types of plastic in both area and agricultural production. in the territory of the largest states in terms of Source