The Effect Of Middle Tillage On The Grass Cover Stability Of Hanfu Apple Orchard With Natural Grass Cover

The cultivation area of Hanfu apple in Shenyang was expanding continuously,the orchard manager’s management consciousness was increasing continuously,the orchard management way was also receiving the orchard manager’s attention.Grass cover was a modern orchard cultivation measure recognized by orchard managers.Because it could promote the growth of fruit trees and fruit development function.In order to further clarify the production status of grass orchard,we selected 82 grass cover Hanfu apple orchards in Liaoning Province,and investigated by means of field investigation and telephone inquiry.The survey included the basic situation of orchard,yield,income,dominant grass species in orchard,mowing after weeding and middle tillage.When we investigated the status of grass cover in orchards,some orchard managers do middle tillage once a year to renew the grass cover in June and July.But there were always different opinions on whether to intertillage after the grass cover.So,used 11-year-old Hanfu/GM256/malus baccata apple trees as experimental materials to design experiment.Researched the effects of middle tillage on grass coverage,soil nutrients,tree development and fruit quality in apple orchards under continuous grass cover cultivation when the time was flower bud differentiation stage and fruit ripening stage of fruit trees.Referenced to the data analysis of orchard survey in Liaoning Province.The main resultswere followed:1.Among these orchards,76.8 percent of the orchards were in the period of high yield,the average unit yield was 26805 kg/hm2 and the average income was 61860 yuan/hm2.The future development of Hanfu apple industry in Liaoning Province was good,the yield and the income of orchard was stable.2.73.2 percent of orchard managers applied organic and chemical fertilizers to improve fruit quality.Ditch fertilization and hole fertilization were the main methods of fertilization.However,some orchards still had some management problems,such as unreasonable fertilization time and quantity,poor management of mowing and so on.3.More orchards were converted to grass cover orchards because of the agricultural extension.Orchard managers used mowing or plowing once a year,instead of repeatedly plowing and weeding.This not only saved labor costs,but also improved the orchard environment.And the dominant grass species in orchards were Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.and Digitaria sanguinalis(L.)Scop.4.Medium tillage can improve the grass coverage of fruit trees.However,during the period when the grass is growing vigorously,after middle tillage,the fruit trees compete with the grass for water,while the grass cover do not.5.Intermediate tillage treatment can increase the content of available nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium in soil,and increase the number of soil microorganisms.Medium tillage is different from grass cover,the middle tillage treatment can reduce the soil p H value and accelerate the decomposition of organic matter,and concentrate nutrients in the soil layer of 10cm-20 cm,while the grassland treatment can increase the soil p H value and make the soil nutrients move down to the soil layer of 20cm-40 cm.6.Medium tillage treatment and grass cover treatment will affect fruit setting rate and branch condition,and improve fruit quality.Compared with the control,the soluble solids content of fruit increased by 9.48 percent and 8.62 percent respectively,and the fruit shape index and fruit weight of middle tillage treatment were better.Therefore,after determining the climatic conditions,soil conditions and orchard management of the area,it is necessary to choose whether to apply middle tillage in grass cover orchards or not.