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- Citrus Pruning in the Mediterranean climate: a reviewPublication . Matias, Pedro; Barrote, Isabel; Azinheira, Gonçalo; Continella, Alberto; Duarte, AmilcarPruning is a common practice in citrus for various reasons. These include controlling and shaping the canopy; improving phytosanitary health, productivity, and fruit quality; and facilitating operations such as harvesting and phytosanitary treatments. Because pruning is an expensive operation, its need is sometimes questioned. However, it has been proven to be particularly important in Mediterranean citriculture, which is oriented towards producing fruits for a high-quality demanding fresh market. Herein, we summarize and explain the pruning techniques used in Mediterranean citriculture and refer to the main purposes of each pruning type, considering citrus morphology and physiology.
- Effect of ground cover on soil carbon storage in a citrus orchard: challenges and preliminary results.Publication . Reis, Adélia; Duarte, Beatriz; Duarte, AmilcarFruit tree crops, as a relevant agricultural sector, have great importance in the sequestration of atmospheric carbon and its stock in the soil. A vast area of citrus orchards is found in the Mediterranean region, an area prone to soil degradation and desertification. Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, such as permanent soil cover in orchards, can contribute to maintaining their productivity, protecting them from erosion, increasing the level of organic matter and increasing the stock of organic carbon. This study aimed to determine the organic carbon stored in the soil up to 20 cm depth in citrus orchards under different soil management systems. An experiment was carried out in a ‘Nadorcott’ mandarin orchard where measurements were performed both in the tree rows (between the trees in the ridges) and in the inter-rows (between ridges). Two treatments were tested: A) tree row without ground cover and inter-row covered with spontaneous herbaceous vegetation and B) tree row with almond shell mulching and inter-row with a permanent cover of sown herbaceous vegetation. Soil organic matter varied between 1.97 ± 0.14 % in the tree row without ground cover and 4.68 ± 0.03 % in the inter-row with spontaneous vegetation cover. Regarding the organic carbon stocked in the soil of the orchard, mean values of 25.04 ± 1.15 Mg C ha-1 were obtained in treatment A) and 31.24 ± 3.98 Mg C ha-1 in treatment B).