Dergiler / Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi / 2020 / Cilt: 26 - Sayı: 4

The Impact of Different Cover Crops, Mechanical Cultivation and Herbicide Treatment on The Soil Quality Variables and Yield in Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) Orchard with a Coarse-Textured Soil

The Impact of Different Cover Crops, Mechanical Cultivation and Herbicide Treatment on The Soil Quality Variables and Yield in Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) Orchard with a Coarse-Textured Soil

Zeynep DEMİR, Doğan IŞIK

Sayfa
452–470
DOI
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Abstract

Effects of different cover crops on soil quality parameters and yieldof an apple orchard located in Develi town of Kayseri province ofTurkey were investigated in this study. Trifolium repens L. (TR),Festuca rubra subsp. rubra (FRR), Festuca arundinacea (FA), T.repens (40%) + F. rubra rubra (30%) + F. arundinacea (30%)mixture (TFF), Vicia villosa (VV) and Trifolium meneghinianum(TM) were used as the cover crops in an apple orchard with sandyloam soil. Experiments also included plots mechanically cultivated(MC), herbicide treatment (HC) and control (C) plot without covercrops. Soil samples were taken from two different depths (0-20 and20-40 cm) in each plot. Experiments were conducted in randomizedcomplete blocks design with four replications. The cover croptreatments improved soil quality parameters like organic matter(OM), basal soil respiration, bulk density (BD), aggregate stability,saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), available water capacitycompared to the soil of a nontreated control plot. Mean OM contentsat 0-20 cm soil depth was ordered as; HC (0.56%)