[Soil chemicophysical properties and grape yield in vineyards subjected to cover cropping [Vitis vinifera L.; grapevine; Latium]]
2005
Campiglia, E. (Università della Tuscia, Viterbo (Italy). Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale) | Mancinelli, R. (Università della Tuscia, Viterbo (Italy). Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale) | Paolini, R. (Università della Tuscia, Viterbo (Italy). Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale) | Ghini, G. (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l'Innovazione Agricola del Lazio (ARSIAL), Rome (Italy)) | Cirioni, P. (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo e l'Innovazione Agricola del Lazio (ARSIAL), Rome (Italy))
Cover cropping is definitely encouraged by the agro-environmental measures, as a husbandry choice allowing reduction of environmental hazard and maintenance or improvement of soil fertility in orchards. From some years, Winter annual cover crops, such as self re-seeding legumes, are being spreading in Mediterranean vineyards. Indeed, they mainly grow during the wet season and complement with the tree crop, what reduces competition for water and nutrients. This study was conducted over four years (1995-1999) at two farms in Latium (Central Italy), to investigate the effects of four management techniques (permanent soil cover by subterranean clover cv Mount Barker, by subterranean clover cv Dalkeith, by native vegetation and conventional tillage) on soil physical and chemical properties in specialized vineyards. Compared to conventional tillage, cover cropping resulted in an improvement of both soil structure stability (measured as soil aggregate stability in water) and infiltration rate. At both farms, the cover by subterranean clover cv Mount Barker was the most effective, improving soil structure stability and steady infiltration rate by 9-21 % and 63-81%, respectively. After 2 and 3 years, soil organic matter and inorganic nitrogen content were significantly higher after legume cover crop than after conventional tillage and tended to increase in time. In general, above-ground biomass was much higher for cv Mount Barker than for cv Dalkeith or native vegetation. Averaged over years, grape yield was similar after subterranean clover and conventional tillage and lower after native vegetation cover. Results suggest that a well-selected cover crop can significantly improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil and can play a key role in management of Mediterranean vineyards
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