Delineation of management zones in an apple orchard: Correlations between yield and soil properties

Abstract

In the present paper the yield and soil spatial variability in an apple orchard was studied. Apples were collected manually and placed in plastic bins along the tree rows. Yield per ten trees was weighted and the geographical position in the centre of the ten trees was recorded, using a GPS, in order to create the yield map. The orchard was divided in management zones with the Management Zone Analyst (MZA) software, based on the yield map. In each zone soil samples were taken and analysed for the following characteristics: soil texture (% sand, % silt and % clay), pH, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium carbonate (CaCO<inf>3</inf>) and organic matter (OM) content. The correlation between yield and soil properties was performed in all zones. The results showed significant variability in yield and some soil properties. Yield was negatively correlated with pH, clay, organic matter, and CaCO<inf>3</inf>.