Effects Of Soil-Protecting Agricultural Practices On Soil Organic Carbon And Productivity In Fruit Tree Orchards

Abstract

This 4￢ﾀﾐyear on￢ﾀﾐfarm study reports the effects of different agricultural practices on yield and soil organic carbon (SOC) in kiwifruit and apricot orchards grown in a Mediterranean area. Groups of plants under local orchard management (LOM,ￂﾧ

Correction made here after initial publication.

) practices (i.e. soil tillage, removing of pruning residues and mineral fertilisers) were compared with plots under soil￢ﾀﾐprotecting orchard management (SPOM) actions (i.e. cover crop, no￢ﾀﾐtillage, compost application and mulching of pruning residues). In the SPOM blocks fertilisation rate was based on plant demand and irrigation volumes calculated on the evapotranspiration values, while they were empirically calculated in the LOM plots. Results show that yield was 28￢ﾀﾓ50 per cent enhanced by SPOM practices while SOC remained close to the initial values. In comparison with LOM plots, changed practices increased up to 28￢ﾀﾓ90 per cent the amount of P and K, and 13 per cent that of N annually incorporated into soil increasing their reservoir in the soil. The study demonstrates that appropriate land management can increase the mean annual carbon soil inputs from about 1ￂﾷ5 to 9ￂﾷ0￢ﾀﾉt￢ﾀﾉha￢ﾈﾒ1 per year. Copyright ￂﾩ 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.