Articles
Effect of irrigation and mulching treatment on fruit and vegetative growth in sweet cherry trees
Article number
1457_89
Pages
711 – 718
Language
English
Abstract
Irrigation is an essential management practice for ensuring the growth and regular production of high-quality fruit in sweet cherries, especially in semi-dry areas.
In some regions, irrigation water is limited or sourced from drinking water.
Improving irrigation strategies to reduce the amount of irrigation water without reducing the amount of product produced is therefore necessary to use the available water as efficiently as possible.
In an experimental sweet cherry orchard, the growth response of fruit and shoots, as well as yield and fruit mass, was compared between irrigated and non-irrigated trees, either with or without mulching treatment with spent mushroom substrate of the tree row in the third and fourth leaf (2022, 2023). Irrigation treatments were applied via drip lines with integrated drippers below the soil surface, above the soil surface, or with microsprinklers above the soil surface.
Irrigation was aimed at maintaining soil moisture above 50% of the available field capacity at a depth of 25 cm.
The amount of water applied before harvest was higher in micro-sprinkler-irrigated trees than in drip-irrigated trees in both years.
The mulching treatment slightly influenced the increase in fruit diameter and shoot length.
However, yield was higher in non-irrigated trees in 2022 and in irrigated and non-irrigated trees in 2023 when trees received the mulching treatment compared to trees with open soil in the tree row.
Furthermore, trees receiving the most irrigation water had the highest fruit mass and trunk cross-sectional area.
The seasonal pattern of fruit growth rates was similar between treatments.
For sustainable intensification of horticultural production systems, mulching the tree row in tree fruit orchards can make the most efficient use of scarce water resources.
In some regions, irrigation water is limited or sourced from drinking water.
Improving irrigation strategies to reduce the amount of irrigation water without reducing the amount of product produced is therefore necessary to use the available water as efficiently as possible.
In an experimental sweet cherry orchard, the growth response of fruit and shoots, as well as yield and fruit mass, was compared between irrigated and non-irrigated trees, either with or without mulching treatment with spent mushroom substrate of the tree row in the third and fourth leaf (2022, 2023). Irrigation treatments were applied via drip lines with integrated drippers below the soil surface, above the soil surface, or with microsprinklers above the soil surface.
Irrigation was aimed at maintaining soil moisture above 50% of the available field capacity at a depth of 25 cm.
The amount of water applied before harvest was higher in micro-sprinkler-irrigated trees than in drip-irrigated trees in both years.
The mulching treatment slightly influenced the increase in fruit diameter and shoot length.
However, yield was higher in non-irrigated trees in 2022 and in irrigated and non-irrigated trees in 2023 when trees received the mulching treatment compared to trees with open soil in the tree row.
Furthermore, trees receiving the most irrigation water had the highest fruit mass and trunk cross-sectional area.
The seasonal pattern of fruit growth rates was similar between treatments.
For sustainable intensification of horticultural production systems, mulching the tree row in tree fruit orchards can make the most efficient use of scarce water resources.
Publication
Authors
M. Penzel, M. Bamberg
Keywords
fruit quality, pruning, Prunus avium, shoot growth, trunk diameter, yield efficiency
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