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International Journal of Horticulture 2014, Vol.4, No.5, 20
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21
Table 2 Effect of intercrops on fruit yield, fruit weight and fruit volume of apple cv. Red Delicious
Treatments
Fruit yield (kg/tree)
Fruit weight (g)
Fruit volume (cm
3
)
2008
2009
2008
2009
2008
2009
T
1
Maize
28.56
29.99
137.69
138.88
149.97
150.02
T
2
Pea
35.17
37.51
153.66
155.72
163.86
165.56
T
3
Strawberry
29.57
31.79
141.72
142.55
152.72
153.97
T
4
Cabbage
29.00
30.57
140.50
141.43
151.26
152.14
T
5
Red clover
34.87
35.62
148.24
150.29
160.66
162.12
T
6
French bean
32.57
33.32
144.82
146.86
158.22
160.01
T
7
Oats
28.67
29.22
138.66
139.01
150.88
151.58
T
8
Clean cultivation (Control)
30.27
32.02
142.12
143.88
155.29
156.52
CD (P<0.05)
2.15
2.20
0.32
0.46
0.25
0.36
legumes results in higher availability of both N and
moisture as they increase water holding capacity of soil
which might have helped to increase uptake of nutrients
and thus increased dry matter accumulation. These
results are in congruence with Yankovoi (1983).
Highest leaf N and Mg was recorded in apple trees
intercropped with pea whileas lowest was recorded with
maize (Table 3; Table 4). Leaf P, K and Ca was recorded
highest in apple trees intercropped with red clover
followed by french bean, pea, control (clean
cultivation), strawberry, cabbage, oats and maize.
This might be due to the fact that leguminous crops like
pea have a symbiotic relationship with
rhizobium
species
which is capable of fixing large amount of
atmospheric N thus increasing available soil N. These
results are in line with Fisenko (1969), while in case of
leaf P, K and Ca this may be due to higher availability of
moisture by clovers, as they can penetrate into the
deeper layers of soils for extraction of moisture which
might have facilitated the uptake of nutrients and their
uptake is correlated with the availability of H
2
O. These
results are in conformity with Neilson and Hogue (1985).
Table 3 Effect of intercrops on leaf N, P, K status of apple cv. Red Delicious
Treatments
Leaf nitrogen (%)
Leaf phosphorus (%)
Leaf potassium (%)
2008
2009
2008
2009
2008
2009
T
1
Maize
2.00
2.10
0.152
0.160
1.66
1.70
T
2
Pea
2.58
2.68
0.191
0.195
1.79
1.82
T
3
Strawberry
2.37
2.40
0.161
0.173
1.75
1.78
T
4
Cabbage
2.32
2.36
0.158
0.165
1.70
1.73
T
5
Red clover
2.54
2.64
0.208
0.228
1.83
1.86
T
6
French bean
2.48
2.58
0.185
0.188
1.80
1.84
T
7
Oats
2.20
2.22
0.155
0.154
1.68
1.71
T
8
Clean cultivation (Control)
2.42
2.45
0.170
0.177
1.78
1.81
CD (P<0.05)
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.03
Table 4 Effect of intercrops on leaf Ca and Mg status of apple cv. Red Delicious
Treatments
Leaf calcium (%)
Leaf magnesium (%)
2008
2009
2008
2009
T
1
Maize
1.66
1.68
0.25
0.27
T
2
Pea
1.80
1.82
0.38
0.40
T
3
Strawberry
1.72
1.74
0.29
0.31
T
4
Cabbage
1.70
1.72
0.28
0.30
T
5
Red clover
1.92
1.94
0.35
0.37
T
6
French bean
1.86
1.88
0.32
0.34
T
7
Oats
1.68
1.70
0.26
0.28
T
8
Clean cultivation (Control)
1.74
1.76
0.30
0.32
CD (P<0.05)
0.05
0.04
0.02
0.05