The manually operated mulch laying machine with punching arrangement was developed. The performance of the developed machine was evaluated at three mulch film thicknesses (15, 20 and 25 micron), three disc angles (35, 40 and 45 degree), three punch spacing (250, 500 and 1000 mm) and three forward speeds (1.3, 1.5 1.7 km/h) to study their effect on effective field capacity, field efficiency and punching efficiency. The experimental plan for optimization was prepared using response surface methodology technique with Randomized block design. The effects of all independent variables on the dependent variables were found to be significant. The effect of thickness of mulch film and speed of operation was the most significant on dependent variable. With increasing thickness of mulch film from 15 to 25 micron and speed of operation in the range 1.3 to 1.7 km/h, the effective field capacity increased from 0.11 to 0.19 ha/h, field efficiency increased from 72.04 to 89.51 per cent and punching efficiency decreased from 85.18 to 84.40 per cent. The optimize values were found of selected independent parameters. As per the availability of market product range, 15 micron sheet was selected, disc angle of 40 degree was maintained for effective coverage of soil over the laid plastic mulch sheet. The speed of operation was selected as 1.5 km/h where the machine performed better on all the selected dependent parameters. The performance optimized at 500 mm punch spacing resulted in maximum punching efficiency, respectively.