THE CONSEQUENCES OF CULTURAL-PRACTICES ON GROWTH AND CROPPING OF PEACH-TREES SUBJECTED TO LOCALIZED IRRIGATION - EFFECTS OF SOIL-MANAGEMENT, NITROGEN-FERTILIZATION AND TREE DENSITY

Cultural practices were studied in peach tree orchards irrigated with microsprinklers, herbicide strips being maintained along the tree rows. Differences in fruit cropping between treatments varied in the same way as tree vigour, the most vigorous trees having the highest production capacities. Concerning soil management, ground cover vegetation (permanent or temporary) improved fruit production compared with soil cultivation. According to leaf analysis, ground cover vegetation appeared to ameliorate the conditions of trees nutrition. This effect was probably mainly due to increasing soil resistance to compaction; applying organic matter was not effective in improving the performance of trees grown with soil cultivation compared with those grown with ground cover vegetation. Increasing fruit tree density also contributed to increased fruit production. Nevertheless, more than 600 trees per hectare did not allow further increase in fruit yield for the experimental cultivar. Lastly, nitrogen fertilization seemed particularly important for improving the fruiting of peach trees.