ISHS Acta Horticulturae 586: IV International Symposium on Olive Growing
EFFECT OF TREE GROWTH AND NUTRIENTS STATUS OF "CHEMLALI DE SFAX" OLIVE TREES AND THEIR PRODUCTIVITY |
| Authors: | B. Ben Rouina, A. Trigui, M. Boukhris |
| Keywords: | Olive tree, growth, yields, leaf, nutrients status. |
| Abstract:
The growth and productivity of olive-trees are mainly influenced by many factors related to climatic conditions, soil availability of water and nutrients status. This study was carried out in an arid area situated at the farm of Chaâl (south of Tunisia) where the rainfall's average is 190 mm per year. The olive trees (cv. Chemlali de Sfax) were eighteen years old and grown in two kinds of soil: a sandy soil with a depth more than three meters and a clayey - loamy soil with a depth less than 0.8 meter. The chemical properties of the soil was determined by the FAO methods and showed a less contents in organic matter = 0.17 - 0.32 %, nitrogen = 0.028 - 0.047 %, phosphates = 0.022 - 0.084 % and potassium = 0.17 - 0.90 %. Olive trees growth is expressed by the trunk cross section area, canopy volume, fruiting shoot extension and their fruitfulness which exhibited significant correlation with the soil moisture (R² = 0.89). The evolution of the leaf contents (dry matter, moisture, nitrogen, potassium and phosphor) during one entire vegetative season shows a high correlation between leaf NPK budget and the trees yields (R² = 0.97). Furthermore, the levels of NPK were in relation with the alternate bearing of trees and the soil texture. Their rates increased on opposite way with the crops. The NPK analyses of one-year-old leaves reveal variations among the tree loads. The nitrogen levels varied from 2 % when fruits load was low (year -) and 1.2 % when the crop was greater (year +). The same tendency was exhibited with P (0.4 - 0.15 %) and K (1.0 - 0.7 %). | |
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