Orchard floor management practices in arid and semi-arid fruit crops for quality yield

Abstract

The orchard floor is a substantial portion of an orchard, which can be managed in different ways to support the soil health and promote productivity and quality. Recent studies put emphasis on the constructive effect of live mulch in fruit crops in terms of yield, quality and alleviating disorders. Dry weather coinciding with elevated temperatures in arid zones have detrimental effects on the important physiological processes of plants. Living mulch with legumes like mustard and Medicago sativa (Alfa alfa, a perennial legume), enrich the soil by nitrogen fixing. Organic matter mulch adds to the soil, aggregate it, ensure that the soil remains consistently moist, which is crucial for preventing fruit cracking in fruits such as Pomegranate, Bael. Non-organic plastic sheeting preserve soil moisture. Reflective properties of aluminum faced plastic mulch interfere with the movement of aphids in orchards. New photo-degradable or bio-degradable mulches have been developed, which will solve this problem of plastic removal or disposal. In this paper, available research on beneficial effects of mulches, live mulches, and intercrops in arid fruit orchards is presented.