Browsing by Author "Silwana, Sibongiseni"

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    The use of cover crops for sustainable citrus orchard performance
    (University of the Western Cape, 2025) Silwana, Sibongiseni
    Cover crops play a pivotal role in maintaining and improving agricultural sustainability through enriching organic matter content. They are commonly planted between tree rows to enhance soil quality, suppress weeds and improve production and fruit quality in citrus orchards. However, there is limited information regarding plantation of cover crops in citrus orchards in South Africa. Current conventional agricultural production systems in citrus orchards rely heavily on a high level of agrochemicals. This study is an attempt to alleviate some of the direct input costs and high application of agrochemicals. A cover crop field study was conducted at Lamara farm at Franschhoek, South Africa to assess the effect of cover crop species on soil quality, weed suppression, soil enzymes, citrus fruit yield and soil water content under two termination methods (slashed and non-slashed). Cover crop species tested were vetch, medics, oats and control (no cover crop). The experiment was set up in a randomised block design with a factorial treatment structure (Factor 1 - cover crop species; Factor 2 – cover crop termination methods) replicated six times. In the first study, effect of cover crop species on soil organic carbon, weed control and citrus fruit weights using two termination methods (slashed and non-slashed) were assessed. Soil samples were taken before planting cover crops and one year after planting cover crops to determine soil fertility. Dry weight samples of cover crop and weed were collected during the termination stage and fruit weight measurements were taken at harvest.