scholarly journals 448 Soil Problems Affecting Date Palm Growth, Yield, and Fruit Quality in Coachella Valley

HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 521E-522
Author(s):  
Aref A. Abdul-Baki ◽  
S. Aslan ◽  
S. Cobb ◽  
E. Beardsley ◽  
T. Burke

A 3-year experiment was conducted to identify problems in Coachella Valley date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) orchards that limit vegetative growth, yield, and fruit quality. Major problems that were identified included soil compaction and stratification that restrict water permeation into the root zone, and low fertility as reflected by the low organic -matter content of the sandy soils. To eliminate the impact of these stresses on plant growth, yield, and fruit quality, a no-tillage alternative management system was introduced to replace the conventional practice of tillage that compacts the soil. No-till was coupled with the use of cover crops to enrich the soil with organic matter, fix N, recycle nutrients, and improve water holding capacity of the sandy soil. In already established orchards, an additional treatment—slip plowing—was also implemented to loosen the soil at lower depths to facilitate water permeation. The positive effects of the alternative system on the soil, tree growth, yield, and fruit quality will be presented.

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Hanane Sghiouri El Idrissi ◽  
Abderrahim Samaouali ◽  
Younes El Rhaffari ◽  
Salah El Alami ◽  
Yves Geraud

In this work, we study the variability of the lithological composition and organic matter content of samples were taken from the different layers M, X and Y of the Timahdit oil shale in Morocco, in order to experimentally analyze the impact of this variability on petrophysical measurements. The objective of this study is to predict the properties of the layers, including their thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, porosity and P and S wave velocities. The results of the study of the impact of the organic matter content of the samples on the petrophysical measurements show that, regardless of the organic matter content, thermal conductivity and diffusivity remain insensitive, while P and S wave velocities decrease linearly and porosity increases with increasing organic matter content. On the other hand, the study of the organic matter variability content is consistent with the velocity ratio, so can be used as an organic matter indicator of the layers. Conductivity and thermal diffusivity are almost invariant to the variability of the organic matter.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Sas-Paszt ◽  
Kris Pruski ◽  
Edward Żurawicz ◽  
Beata Sumorok ◽  
Edyta Derkowska ◽  
...  

Sas-Paszt, L., Pruski, K., Żurawicz, E., Sumorok, B., Derkowska, E. and Głuszek, S. 2014. The effect of organic mulches and mycorrhizal substrate on growth, yield and quality of Gold Milenium apples on M.9 rootstock. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 281–291. A 3-yr study was conducted to evaluate the effects of organic mulches and mycorrhizal substrate on growth and yield of apple cv. Gold Milenium grown on M.9 rootstock. Straw (rye), pine bark, conifer tree sawdust, compost (plant debris), cow manure, peat moss substrate (commercial), and mycorrhiza substrate (Mykoflor®, containing mycorrhizal fungi: Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae, G. etunicatum) were applied in spring of each year. All the applied treatments did not affect significantly the tree growth. Mulches did not have a positive effect on total soluble solids of the fruit and the number of fruits in different size categories. Only sawdust mulch significantly increased the number of fruit in size diameter class of 7.0–7.5 cm compared with the control. The use of mulches affected the concentration of macro- and microelements in leaves, particularly Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn. Mulches positively affected the pH and organic matter content of soil. The best results were observed with the use of the compost, cow manure and the mycorrhizal substrate, where the concentrations of P, K and Mg, most of microelements and soil organic matter were elevated.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Liu ◽  
Zeng Cui ◽  
Ze Huang ◽  
Hai-Tao Miao ◽  
Gao-Lin Wu

Abstract. Litter crusts are integral components of the water budget in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in arid areas. This innovative study is to quantify the ecohydrological effectiveness of litter crusts in desert ecosystems. We focus on the positive effects of litter crusts on soil water holding capacity and water interception capacity compared with biocrusts. Litter crusts significantly increased soil organic matter, which was 2.4 times the content in biocrusts and 3.84 times the content in bare sandy lands. Higher organic matter content resulted in increased soil porosity and decreased soil bulk density. Meanwhile, soil organic matter can help to maintain maximum infiltration rates. Litter crusts significantly increased the water infiltration rate under high water supply. Our results suggested that litter crusts significantly improve soil properties, thereby influencing hydrological processes. Litter crusts play an important role in improving hydrological effectiveness and provide a microhabitat conducive to vegetation restoration in dry sandy ecosystem.


Nitrogen ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-427
Author(s):  
Arthur Siller ◽  
Heather Darby ◽  
Alexandra Smychkovich ◽  
Masoud Hashemi

There is growing interest in malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production in the Northeastern United States. This crop must meet high quality standards for malting but can command a high price if these quality thresholds are met. A two-year field experiment was conducted from 2015 to 2017 to evaluate the impact of two leguminous cover crops, sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), on subsequent winter malting barley production. Four cover crop treatments—sunn hemp (SH), crimson clover (CC), sunn hemp and crimson clover mixture (SH + CC), and no cover crop (NC)—were grown before planting barley at three seeding rates (300, 350, and 400 seeds m−2). SH and SH + CC produced significantly more biomass and residual nitrogen than the CC and NC treatments. Higher barley seeding rates led to higher seedling density and winter survival. However, the subsequent spring and summer barley growth metrics, yield, and malting quality were not different in any of the treatments. There is much left to investigate in determining the best malting barley production practices in the Northeastern United States, but these results show that winter malting barley can be successfully integrated into crop rotations with leguminous plants without negative impacts on barley growth, yield, and grain quality.


HortScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Metin Turan ◽  
Ertan Yildirim ◽  
Melek Ekinci ◽  
Sanem Argin

Plant biostimulants are microorganisms (PGPR) and/or products obtained from different organic substances that positively affect plant growth and efficiency and reduce the negative effects of abiotic challenges. Effects of biostimulants on the plant growth, yield, mineral content, antioxidant enzyme activity, H2O2, malondialdehyde (MDA), sucrose, and proline contents of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme L.) grown in soils with two different characteristics were investigated during a pot study under greenhouse conditions. Soil I was a fertile routinely vegetable-cultivated soil. Soil II had high salinity, high CaCO3 content, and low organic matter content. Commercial biostimulant products Powhumus® (PH), Huminbio Microsense Seed® (SC), Huminbio Microsense Bio® (RE), and Fulvagra® (FU) were used as seed coatings and/or drench solutions. All biostimulant treatments improved the plant growth and yield compared with the control in both soils. All biostimulant applications were more effective in soil II than in soil I. RE was the most effective application for mineral content in soil I, whereas FU was the most effective in soil II. Antioxidant activity, H2O2, MDA, and proline contents were decreased in both soils when biostimulants were used compared with the control. Peroxide (POD) activity was greater with SC1 in soil II. The RE treatment increased the sucrose content in soil II. In conclusion, single and combined use of high-purity fulvic acid and PGPR had positive effects on the growth of cherry tomato in fertile soil and under stressed conditions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1535-1548 ◽  
Author(s):  
André da Costa ◽  
Jackson Adriano Albuquerque ◽  
Adriano da Costa ◽  
Patricia Pértile ◽  
Franciani Rodrigues da Silva

The retention and availability of water in the soil vary according to the soil characteristics and determine plant growth. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate water retention and availability in the soils of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, according to the textural class, soil class and lithology. The surface and subsurface horizons of 44 profiles were sampled in different regions of the State and different cover crops to determine field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water content, particle size, and organic matter content. Water retention and availability between the horizons were compared in a mixed model, considering the textural classes, the soil classes and lithology as fixed factors and profiles as random factors. It may be concluded that water retention is greater in silty or clayey soils and that the organic matter content is higher, especially in Humic Cambisols, Nitisols and Ferralsol developed from igneous or sedimentary rocks. Water availability is greater in loam-textured soils, with high organic matter content, especially in soils of humic character. It is lower in the sandy texture class, especially in Arenosols formed from recent alluvial deposits or in gravelly soils derived from granite. The greater water availability in the surface horizons, with more organic matter than in the subsurface layers, illustrates the importance of organic matter for water retention and availability.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1265
Author(s):  
Maged Elsayed Ahmed Mohammed ◽  
Mohammed Refdan Alhajhoj ◽  
Hassan Muzzamil Ali-Dinar ◽  
Muhammad Munir

Water scarcity is a major constraint in arid and semi-arid regions. Crops that require less irrigation water and those, which are considered drought-tolerant such as date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), are dominant in these regions. Despite the tolerance of these crops, the development of technologies that ensure efficient use of irrigation water is imperative. Taking these issues into consideration, the study was conducted to investigate the impact of limited irrigation water using a new subsurface irrigation system (SSI) on gas exchange, chlorophyll content, water use efficiency, water productivity, fruit physicochemical characteristics, and yield of date palm (cv. Sheshi). The impact of the SSI system was compared with two surface irrigation systems, namely, surface drip irrigation (SDI) and surface bubbler irrigation (SBI). The field experiment was carried out during 2018 and 2019 at the Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The annual crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was 2544 mm. The applied irrigation water was set at 50%, 75%, and 125% of ETc for SSI, SDI, and SBI, respectively, which were based on the higher crop water productivity recorded in an initial field study. The total annual volume of water applied for SSI, SDI, and SBI was 22.89, 34.34, and 57.24 m3 palm−1, respectively. The crop water productivity (CWP) at the SSI system was significantly higher, with a value of 1.15 kg m−3, compared to the SDI (0.51 kg m−3) and SBI systems (0.37 kg m−3). The photosynthetic water use efficiency (WUE) was 10.09, 9.96, and 9.56 μmol CO2 mmol−1 H2O for SSI, SBI, and SDI, respectively. The maximum chlorophyll content (62.4 SPAD) was observed in SBI, followed by SSI (58.9 SPAD) and SDI (56.9 SPAD). Similarly, net photosynthesis and the transpiration rate were significantly higher in SBI and lowest in SSI. However, the SSI system substantially increased palm yield and enhanced fruit quality. The new SSI system, through its positive impact on the efficiency of irrigation water use and enhancement on fruit yield and fruit quality of date palm, seems quite suitable for the irrigation of palm trees in arid and semi-arid regions.


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