|
|
|
| Authors: | T. Olszewski, A. Mika, D. Krzewinska |
Abstract:
In the last years there have been many evidences in the Western Europe that deep ground water had been polluted with herbicides as the result of their unwise usage in agriculture.
As the result of these evidences the amount of herbicides applied to the soil has been lately restricted.
New methods of soil cultivation in orchards have been applied.
In the Experimental orchard of Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture different mulching materials have been put along new planted apple trees grafted on M 26. There were: saw dust, bark compost, cereal straw, rape oil straw, black polyethylene foil and Lutrasil spunweb.
These mulching materials were compared with the standard herbicide strips kept mainly with Roundup and MCPA. In the first year after applying mulching materials (saw dust and bark compost) the growth of the trees was suppressed, probably because of lack of free nitrogen absorbed by soil microorganisms.
In the following years however these trees showed the best grow and cropping.
Black polyethylene foil and Lutrasil spunweb also gave a good result.
Straw caused a lot of trunk damage by rodents that were too difficult to control.
Leaf analysis showed that in the first years leaf nitrogen content decreased in the treatments with saw dust, bark compost and straw.
In dry years K content in leaves was higher in treatment with polyethylene foil mulching.
After five years of experiment the concentration of potassium in the soil under polyethylene foil was significantly lower than in the other treatments.
|
  
|