A new approach for soil solarization by using paraffin-wax emulsion as a mulching material

Soil mulching material significantly affects the energy balance and soil thermal regime. In order to study the effect of soil mulching with a paraffin-wax emulsion on soil thermal regime, we developed a one-dimensional numerical model, which simulates the microclimate of the mulched soil. The model consists of two layers: soil and paraffin-wax emulsion film. Climatic conditions, soil physical characteristics, and photometric properties of the mulching material are considered. Field measurements verify the model's ability to predict the temperature regime of the paraffin-wax mulched soil. Both numerical and field experiments show that mulching the soil with paraffin-wax emulsion, rather than transparent polyethylene ones, results in more effective heating of the soil and, therefore, faster killing of pathogenic soil fungi. Physically based explanations are given for the measured and computed results.