Bipin Koirala¹ , Aakriti Gautam¹ , Shiva Chaudhary²

1 Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, 44209, Nepal
2 Shree Janata Secondary School, Bardiya, 21808, Nepal
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2026, Vol. 16, No. 4   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0018
Received: 26 May, 2026    Accepted: 29 Jun., 2026    Published: 13 Jul., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Koirala B., Gautam A., and Chaudhary S., 2026, Effects of different mulching materials on growth, bulb development, and yield of onion (Allium cepa L.) at Bardiya Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 16(4): 206-213 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2026.16.0018)

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is a high-value bulb crop cultivated extensively across Nepal. However, yield is limited by suboptimal soil moisture and temperature regulation, particularly under subtropical conditions. A field experiment was conducted during the rabi season (November 2024-April 2025) using a randomized complete block design with five mulching treatments (control, black plastic, rice straw, banana leaf, and sawdust mulch), each replicated three times. Growth and yield parameters were recorded at regular intervals after transplanting and at harvest. Plastic mulch significantly increased bulb yield (35.27 t/ha), showing a 91.5% improvement over the control (18.42 t/ha), while rice straw mulch produced the tallest plants and longest leaves. Rice straw mulch is recommended as a cost-effective and ecologically sustainable alternative for smallholder onion production under Nepal's subtropical Terai conditions.

Onion (Allium cepa L.); Polyethylene mulch; Organic mulch; Bulb yield; Soil moisture conservation; Terai Nepal