Use of organic mulch to enhance water-use efficiency and peach production under limiting soil conditions in a three-year-old orchard

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2015Author
Lordan Sanahuja, Joan
Fonseca Salcedo, Francisco
Papió, Josep
Montilla, Victor
Rufat i Lamarca, Josep
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Lordan Sanahuja, Joan;
Pascual Roca, Miquel;
Villar Mir, Josep Ma.;
Fonseca Salcedo, Francisco;
Papió, Josep;
Montilla, Victor;
Rufat i Lamarca, Josep;
.
(2015)
.
Use of organic mulch to enhance water-use efficiency and peach production under limiting soil conditions in a three-year-old orchard.
Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 2015, vol. 13, núm. 4.
https://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2015134-6694.
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Show full item recordAbstract
Mulching techniques have emerged in recent years to overcome soil constraints and improve fruit tree productivity. The object
of this study was to evaluate the effects of a low-cost organic mulch application in a newly planted peach orchard under a ridge
planting system. Three treatments were performed in 12 elementary plots using a randomized complete block design. The orchard
was drip-irrigated. Mulch was applied in two treatments, which differed in fertigation (none vs. multi-nutrient fertigation), while
the third treatment did not include either mulch or fertigation and served as the control. Treatments were compared in terms of their
effects on the physical properties of the soil, crop response, and water-use efficiency. Mulch treatments did not alter the soil bulk
density. However, the mulch significantly (p=0.0004) increased the water infiltration rate (2.21 mm/h vs. 121 mm/h), which is a
key issue when working in high frequency irrigation systems under soil limiting conditions. Similarly, mulched treatments showed
a more favorable water status both in the second and the third year, which was translated in a better crop response. Thus, mulched
treatments recorded higher yields both in the second (+155%, p=0.0005) and the third year (+53%, p=0.0007) of the experiment.
Water use efficiency (WUEagr) was higher in the mulch treatments (+50% in average, p=0.0007) than in the control in the third year
of the study. On the basis of our results, we propose that organic-mulching techniques should be considered as a beneficial practice
to apply in fruit-trees production under limiting soil conditions.
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Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 2015, vol. 13, núm. 4European research projects
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