**6. Cultural practises and its nutrients influence on ginger cultivation**

Mulching the ginger beds with green leaves is an essential operation to enhance germination of seed rhizomes and to prevent washing off soil due to heavy rain.

Several employees from various sections of the country have cited the advantages of mulching ginger. A total of 20 tonnes of green leaves were used as leaf mulch during planting and 6 weeks later, yielding a crop that was 200% more productive than one that wasn't mulched [41]. Under Wynad circumstances, 15 tonnes of green leaves were sufficient for mulching [40]. Mulching was deemed necessary by ref. [42] at rates of 2.5, 5.0, and 5.0 t/ha for the first, second, and third mulchings, respectively. Heavy mulch, according to ref. [45], may alter the soil's physical and chemical environment, increasing the availability of phosphorus and potassium. In Bihar, it was discovered that mulching with shisan leaves was superior to mulching with paddy straw, mango leaves, or neither. Shisan acted as an organic manure to increase the output . Mulching with dry sal leaves was advised by the CPCRI at Kasaragod, Kerala State, India. With a treatment of FYM at 30 t/ha, intercropping ginger under *Ceiba pentandra* produced a greater yield and revenue than the main crop did when it was 25 per cent trimmed. Since ginger is a crop that prefers shade, it produces well with the addition of organic matter when planted in the best shade [56]. Paddy straw and *Schima wallichii* dry leaf mulches, which are both locally accessible organic mulches, enhanced ginger yield in Meghalaya by 43.6 and 39.7%, respectively, when applied at a rate of 16 t/ha. Both using live soybean intercrops as mulch and mulching three times with leaves were found to be equally efficient. The recommended mulching rates for ginger cultivation are 12.5, 5.0, and 5.0 t/ha for the first, second, and third mulchings, respectively (**Table 2**) [42].
