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The effect of bi-culture cover crops on soil quality, carbon sequestration, and growth characteristics in apple orchards of North Western Himalayas

The effect of bi-culture cover crops on soil quality, carbon sequestration, and growth... Cover crops significantly affect soil quality, and growth characteristics in apple orchards, but reports are scarce. Therefore, the present study was conducted on a 15-year-old apple orchard (cultivar ‘Red Gold’) at Kashmir valley (32°22′–34°43′N, 73°52′–75°42′E; 1850 m.a.s.l.) to determine the influence of grass (Festuca arundinaceae) and legume (Trifolium pratense) bi-culture (GLBC) on soil properties viz. soil organic carbon (SOC), labile carbon (LC), total nitrogen (TN), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe); and plant growth characteristics like trunk girth (TG), trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), fruit yield (FY), and yield efficiency(YE), relative to a no cover crop control. GLBC produced 27.9 ± 3.9 and 7.5 ± 0.8 tons/ha green and dry herbage. Plant growth characteristics differed significantly (p < 0.05), with highest TG (38.89 ± 1.54 cm) and TCSA (123.07 ± 9.61 cm2) in GLBC and lowest (36.22 ± 0.97 and 107.11 ± 5.72, respectively) in control. The treatments differed for FY and YE, and maximum FY (30.63 ± 2.81 t/ha) and YE (0.25 ± 0.01 kg/cm2) was recorded in GLBC. Average SOC (12.53 g kg−1), LC (0.90 g kg−1), and TN (0.76 g kg−1) were 20.7, 27.7, and 13.3% greater in GLBC than control at 0–30 cm depth. Relative to control, SOC accumulation in GLBC was 14.15%, and soils sequestered 3.04 Mg C ha−1. For nutrients, differences between treatments were limited for Mg, moderate for P, and Cu; and strong for Mn and K. The findings convey that GLBC adds enough residues to soil to cause measurable changes in SOC and offers potential for C sequestration and soil sustainability. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Agroforestry Systems Springer Journals

The effect of bi-culture cover crops on soil quality, carbon sequestration, and growth characteristics in apple orchards of North Western Himalayas

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References (61)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021
ISSN
0167-4366
eISSN
1572-9680
DOI
10.1007/s10457-021-00687-7
Publisher site
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Abstract

Cover crops significantly affect soil quality, and growth characteristics in apple orchards, but reports are scarce. Therefore, the present study was conducted on a 15-year-old apple orchard (cultivar ‘Red Gold’) at Kashmir valley (32°22′–34°43′N, 73°52′–75°42′E; 1850 m.a.s.l.) to determine the influence of grass (Festuca arundinaceae) and legume (Trifolium pratense) bi-culture (GLBC) on soil properties viz. soil organic carbon (SOC), labile carbon (LC), total nitrogen (TN), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe); and plant growth characteristics like trunk girth (TG), trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), fruit yield (FY), and yield efficiency(YE), relative to a no cover crop control. GLBC produced 27.9 ± 3.9 and 7.5 ± 0.8 tons/ha green and dry herbage. Plant growth characteristics differed significantly (p < 0.05), with highest TG (38.89 ± 1.54 cm) and TCSA (123.07 ± 9.61 cm2) in GLBC and lowest (36.22 ± 0.97 and 107.11 ± 5.72, respectively) in control. The treatments differed for FY and YE, and maximum FY (30.63 ± 2.81 t/ha) and YE (0.25 ± 0.01 kg/cm2) was recorded in GLBC. Average SOC (12.53 g kg−1), LC (0.90 g kg−1), and TN (0.76 g kg−1) were 20.7, 27.7, and 13.3% greater in GLBC than control at 0–30 cm depth. Relative to control, SOC accumulation in GLBC was 14.15%, and soils sequestered 3.04 Mg C ha−1. For nutrients, differences between treatments were limited for Mg, moderate for P, and Cu; and strong for Mn and K. The findings convey that GLBC adds enough residues to soil to cause measurable changes in SOC and offers potential for C sequestration and soil sustainability.

Journal

Agroforestry Systems – Springer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 2021

Keywords: Alley cropping; Carbon accumulation; Climate change; Soil health; Sustainable fruit growing

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