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Non-Cultivation Systems for Small Fruits and Vegetables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

D. W. Robinson
D. W. Robinson*
Affiliation:
Horticultural Centre, Loughgall, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland
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Abstract

In the last few years the possibility of growing small fruits and several vegetable crops without any soil disturbance has been demonstrated. On many soil types crop yield has been unaffected and has sometimes shown a slight increase compared with traditional cultivation. Advantages of non-cultivation include the possibility of increasing crop uniformity and yield by using closer row spacings and completely new methods of crop production, the avoidance of injury to surface-feeding roots, decreased risk of frost and easier mechanical harvesting of some crops. In small-fruit plantations the weed problem has greatly diminished after about 3 years, because of non-disturbance of seeds lying below the germinating zone and the absence of a “seed-bed”. While the surface crust that sometimes forms where the soil is not disturbed may affect plant growth in certain circumstances, no evidence was obtained in recent experiments in Britain that a crust was detrimental to the growth of established plants. However, water infiltration on bare non-cultivated soil was sometimes retarded and increased run-off occurred on sloping sites. Due to the wide diversity of soil types, climatic conditions and crop response it is impossible to generalize about the effect of eliminating cultivation. Nevertheless, as some of the advantages are considerable while the disadvantages can often be overcome it seems likely that non-cultivation practice will extend to many horticultural crops in the future.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weeds , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , October 1964 , pp. 245 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © 1964 Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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