Impact of postharvest deficit irrigation and organic amendments on sweet cherry production at newly and previously established orchards in the Okanagan Valley
department or school: Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)
department or school: Biology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Gebretsadikan, Tirhas Mebratu
issued: 2019-04-29T18:08:09Z
issued: 2019
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: In the Okanagan Valley, sweet cherry production has expanded to higher altitudes due to climate change, but water availability and maintenance of soil health are major concerns for sustainable production. This study examined the effects of mulches and postharvest deficit irrigation (PDI) on soil health, tree productivity and fruit yield and quality in cherry orchards over two seasons. Sweet cherry trees were planted with six replicates at three sites in a randomized block split-plot design, while a split-split-plot experimental design was used at the fourth site. Two irrigation rates (100% and ~70% water supply) were the main-plots, with mulches (compost, woodchips and bare ground) as sub-plots for three sites. Fumigation, compost and legacy effect of mulch and P fertigation were assigned accordingly as main-, sub- and sub-subplots at Site 4. Mulched (Sites 1-3) or incorporated (Site 4) compost increased soil organic matter, nutrients, pH and conductivity at all sites. Compost decreased arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization and increased total bacteria in soil, while fewer root P. penetrans were detected from incorporated compost alone or in combination with fumigation compared to the corresponding control. By contrast, woodchips affected only a few of these soil properties, including increasing soil C and C:N, and decreasing AMF colonization. The legacy effect of mulch at Site 4 was associated with increases in most soil nutrients, and higher total fungal populations when legacy mulch was combined with fumigation. Compost increased soil moisture compared to bare ground, but had no effect on stem water potential of cherry trees. Compost also increased leaf area, a few foliar nutrients and fruit quality attributes, while no impacts of woodchips were observed on these parameters compared to bare soil, with very few exceptions. Use of PDI saved up to 28% irrigation water after fruit harvest per season without affecting soil moisture, soil biochemical properti…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/69988
note: IMPACT OF POSTHARVEST DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON SWEET CHERRY PRODUCTION AT NEWLY AND PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED ORCHARDS IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY by Tirhas Mebratu Gebretsadikan B.Sc., Jimma University, 2010 MSc., Jimma University, 2013 MSc., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2014 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) April 2019 © Tirhas Mebratu Gebretsadikan, 2019 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: IMPACT OF POSTHARVEST DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON SWEET CHERRY PRODUCTION AT NEWLY AND PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED ORCHARDS IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY submitted by Tirhas Mebratu Gebretsadikan in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science Dr. Melanie Jones, Biology, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisor Dr. Louise Nelson, Biology, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Co-Supervisor Dr. Thomas Forge, Soil Ecology, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Christopher Chanway, Forest and Conservation Science, Faculty of Forestry University Examiner iii Abstract In the Okanagan Valley, sweet cherry production has expanded to higher altitudes due to climate change, but water availability and maintenance of soil health are major concerns for sustainable production. This study examined the effects of mulches and postharvest deficit irrigation (PDI) on soil health, tree productivity and fruit yield and quality in cherry orchards over two seasons. Sweet cherry trees were planted with six replicates at three sites in a randomized block split-plot design, while a split-split-plot experimental design was used at the fourth site. Two irrigation rates (100% and ~70% water supply) were the main-plots, with mulches (comp…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2019-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0378506
language: eng
degree discipline: Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/69988