Sida (Sida hermaphrodita) establishment on heavily weed-affected soils using biodegradable mulch film

The sustainable production of plant biomass for energy and material application within a growing bioeconomy is crucial to overcome the dependence on fossil resources. The perennial industrial crop Sida hermaphrodita L. var. Rusby (Sida) was subject of various investigations as a promising biogenic energy carrier, though its field establishment in the juvenile plant stage is challenging. While suitable chemical measures to suppress weeds in Sida are not available, the use of herbicides for weed control contradicts the sustainability in bioenergy provision. Therefore, this study aimed for an improved Sida plant establishing method using biodegradable mulch film on highly weed infested soil. During the year of trial establishment, Sida growth under mulch film treatment was highly improved, resulting in 264% (±49%) higher shoots and 683% (±361%) higher ground cover by Sida compared to the control on bare soil where manual weed treatment was applied only, with weeds significantly reduced in number, size, and ground cover. Employing mulch film for the successful field establishment of Sida proved to be a promising approach as it effectively suppressed weeds despite high weed pressure, resulting in significant growth promotion of Sida.