AI Article Synopsis
- Cover crops and mulching can improve soil porosity and nutrient availability, but their effects on raised bed soils were not well understood.
- A field study conducted over three years in a pomelo orchard tested the effects of different treatments, including no cover crop, legume cover crops, and rice straw mulch, on soil characteristics.
- The results showed that rice straw mulch and legume cover crops reduced soil bulk density and increased porosity, while soil nutrients improved significantly after two years, suggesting these practices are beneficial for fruit orchards.
Article Abstract
Background: Cover crops and mulching can ameliorate soil porosity and nutrient availability, but their effects on the physical characteristics and nutrients in the raised bed soils are unclear.
Methods: The field experiment was conducted in a pomelo orchard from 2019 to 2021, with an area of 1,500 m. The treatments included control (no cover crop), non-legume cover crop ( L.), legume cover crop ( Krabov & W.C. Gregory), and rice straw mulching ( L.). At the end of each year (2019, 2020, and 2021), soil samples were collected at four different layers (0-10, 10-20, 20-30, and 30-40 cm) in each treatment. Soil bulk density, soil porosity, and the concentration of nutrients in the soil were investigated.
Results: The results revealed that soil bulk density at two depths, 0-10 and 10-20 cm, was reduced by 0.07 and 0.08 g cm by rice straw mulch and a leguminous cover crop, thus, increasing soil porosity by ~2.74% and ~3.01%, respectively. Soil nutrients (Ca, K, Fe, and Zn) at topsoil (0-10 cm) and subsoil (10-20 cm) layers were not significantly different in the first year, but those nutrients (Ca, K, Fe, and Zn) improved greatly in the second and third years.
Conclusions: Legume cover crops and straw mulch enhanced soil porosity and plant nutrient availability (Ca, K, Fe, and Zn). These conservation practices best benefit fruit orchards cultivated in the raised bed soils.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9547584 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14170 | DOI Listing |
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