By laying sheets of plastic across their fields, farmers can bring crops to market faster while reducing their vulnerability to many blights (SN: 12/13/97, p. 376). On the negative side, however, this polymer mulch creates impermeable surfaces over more than half of a planted field. That significantly increases the amount of rain and pesticides that runs off into nearby lakes and streams (SN: 9/25/99, p.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.