Soil-covering film, the use of a soil-covering film to protect crops against weeds, and a method for the protection of crops against weeds
AssigneeHolagro Kft.
InventorLaszlo Horvath
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A soil-covering film (10), which contains an air and moisture-permeable sheet, preferably a nonwoven sheet, containing biodegradable and/or compostable fibre (12) and, optionally, binding material (14), where the binding force between the fibres reversibly weakens due to the effect of moisture. The soil-covering film (10) may be used by, for example, laying out the soil-covering film (10) on surface of the soil (40); then the seeds (22) of the crop (20) are placed on the soil-covering film (10); the soil-covering film (10) is kept moist until the seeds (22) located on the surface grow roots (24) and the roots (24) penetrate the soil-covering film (10).
Claims19
Soil-covering film (10) comprising:
- an air and moisture-permeable sheet, containing biodegradable and/or compostable fibre (12) and, optionally, binding material (14), wherein the binding force between the fibres of the air and moisture-permeable sheet reversibly weakens due to the effect of moisture,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet is essentially a planar sheet with substantially even thickness, and wherein the thickness is between 0.2 and 5 mm,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has an area density of between 10 and 500 g/m2,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has a tensile strength in the range of 1-250N/5 cm when dry and 0.5-200 N/5 cm when wet, in both longitudinal and transverse directions,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has a water retention ability of between 50% and 2000% given in mass percent of the dry material content, and
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has the ability to stretch from 5%-100% in the longitudinal direction and 10%-200% in the transverse direction.
A method for protecting crops (20) against weeds (30), wherein a soil-covering film (10), which contains an air and moisture-permeable sheet, containing biodegradable and/or compostable fibres (12) and, optionally, binding material (14) is provided, where the binding force between the fibres reversibly weakens on the effect of moisture, the method comprising:
- laying out the soil-covering film (10) on a surface of the soil (40);
- placing seeds (22) of the crop (20) on the soil-covering film (10);
- keeping moist the soil-covering film (10) until seeds (22) located on the surface grow roots (24) and the roots (24) penetrate the soil-covering film (10);
- suspending the action of keeping the soil-covering film (10) continuously moist, and
- wherein the thickness of the air and moisture-permeable sheet is between 0.2 and 5 mm,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has an area density of between 10 and 500 g/m2,
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has a tensile strength in the range of 1-250 N/5 cm when dry and 0.5-200 N/5 cm when wet, in both longitudinal and transverse directions.
A soil-covering film (10), comprising:
- an air and moisture-permeable sheet, containing biodegradable and/or compostable fibre (12) and, optionally, binding material (14), wherein the binding force between the fibres of the air and moisture-permeable sheet reversibly weakens due to the effect of moisture, and
- wherein the air and moisture-permeable sheet has a tensile strength in the range of 1-250 N/5 cm when dry and 0.5-200 N/5 cm when wet, in both longitudinal and transverse directions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.