Soil management strategies to ameliorate olive tree performane and olive oil quality under adverse conditions -Implementation of innovative agricultural practices to promote the performance of olive trees under adverse climate conditions

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Synergy between zeolites and leguminous cover crops improved olive tree performance and soil properties in a rainfed olive orchard

Publication . Martins, Sandra; Brito, Cátia; Silva, Ermelinda; Gonçalves, Alexandre; Arrobas, Margarida; Pereira, Ermelinda; Rodrigues, M.A.; Nunes, Fernando M.; Correia, Carlos M.

Soil degradation and climate change are threatening the sustainability of Mediterranean olive orchards, typically grown under rainfed conditions and conventional soil tillage. Thus, implementing sustainable soil management practices is crucial to preserve soil health and mitigate the negative effects on plant performance. In this study, we assessed the effects of conventional tillage (T), an early maturing and self-reseeding annual legume cover crop (LC) and its combination with natural zeolites (ZL) on plant physiological performance, tree nutritional status, crop yield, and soil physicochemical and microbiological properties. Although both LC and ZL enhanced the photosynthetic activity, tree nutritional status, soil moisture and olive yield relative to T, ZL was clearly more efficient at improving some soil health indicators, namely at the 0–10 cm soil layer, once soil acidity decreased and Kjeldahl N, extractable P and B, cation exchange capacity and microbiological activity increased, as evidenced by the higher concentrations of easily extractable and total glomalin-related soil protein, microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass quotient, and actinomycetes. Therefore, using natural zeolite with leguminous cover crops appears to be a promising strategy of sustainable soil management in rainfed olive orchards, as it is able to provide numerous ecosystem services.

2023Journal article

Open access

Soil amendment with Zeolites and Biochar influenced soil properties, photosynthetic performance and olive fruit and oil composition

Publication . Martins, Sandra; Silva, Ermelinda; Brito, Cátia; Martins-Gomes, Carlos; Gonçalves, Alexandre; Arrobas, Margarida; Rodrigues, M.A.; Nunes, Fernando M.; Correia, Carlos M.

Olive orchards represent a key agricultural system in the Mediterranean basin. Soil degradation processes associated to unsustainable agronomic practices and climate change could severely impact the sustainability of Mediterranean rainfed olive orchards. In this context, soil amendments are important tools that can be used to enhance soil fertility for sustained environmental quality and plant performance. For two years, we evaluated, under rainfed conditions, the effects of a fertilizer compound (FC) and its combination with zeolites (ZL) and biochar (BC) amendments on soil moisture, photosynthetic activity, yield, fruit and oil composition and quality indices. Although no significant effects were observed on crop yield, the application of ZL and BC improved plant photosynthetic performance due to lower stomatal limitations. The effects on soil quality were more evident in ZL amendment, due to the reduction of acidity, and enhanced moisture, cation exchange capacity, microbial biomass carbon and enzymatic activity. Results relative to olive composition show that the polyphenolic content was strongly influenced by treatments. ZL improved fruit fatty acid composition and oil quality, while BC enhanced the concentrations of polyphenols with high nutritional value (3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol, oleuropein and rutin). In contrast, olive oil from FC fruits showed the poorest quality. The applied soil amendments appear to be a promising sustainable strategy to implement in olive rainfed orchards, and can be an interesting complement to mineral fertilization, in order to promote soil quality, increase physiological performance and olive oil quality.

2022Conference object

Open access

Fruit yield and quality of olives under different deficit irrigation strategies

Publication . Gonçalves, Alexandre; Martins, Sandra; Silva, Ermelinda; Brito, Cátia; Pinto, Luís; Rocha, Luís; Pavia, Ivo; Luzio, Ana; Nunes, Fernando M.; Rodrigues, M.A.; Moutinho-Pereira, José; Correia, Carlos M.

The Mediterranean Basin is a climate change hot spot where substantial warming and lower water availability is predicted. This scenario poses considerable challenges to olive groves, a crop with great ecological and socioeconomic importance. ln order to overcome these constrains, new cropping practices focusing on water use efficiency must be investigated. ln this work we aimed to investigate water management practices that can ensure the adequate compromise between yield and the quality of olive products. The study was conducted in Quinta do Prado, Lodões, Vila Flor (41 °20'13.3"N, 7°05'54.2"W) and a full irrigation (FI) control, applied daily, equivalent to 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc), was compared with three deficit irrigation strategies (DIS): regulated deficit irrigation (RDI; 80% of ETc in phases I and III of fruit growth and 10% of ETc in pit hardening stage, phase TI; 56 % of the ETc in all season), sustained deficit irrigation (SDI; 27.5% of ETc), and sustained deficit irrigation adopted by the farmer (SDIAF; 21.2% of ETc, applied weekly). The impact of treatments on fruit yield and quality during 2016 were evaluated. Using FI treatment as reference, no significant influence of RDI and SDI treatments were felt in crop yield, while the SDlAF treatment reduced it significantly (P

2018Conference object

Open access

Leguminous cover crop to adapt olive rainfed orchards to climate change

Publication . Martins, Sandra; Silva, Ermelinda; Gonçalves, Alexandre; Brito, Cátia; Pinto, Luís; Moutinho-Pereira, José; Rodrigues, M.A.; Correia, Carlos M.

Leguminous cover crops have the potential to contribute to soil protection against erosion and improve carbon sequestration, soil and water quality and might help agricultura! systems become more resilient to climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a cover crop of self-reseeding annuallegumes of short growing cycle on physiological and biochemical responses of twenty-six-year-old olive trees (Olea europaea L. cv. Cobrançosa) grown under rainfed conditions, when compared with conventional tillage. The results showed that the leguminous cover crop ameliorates the physiological and biochemical performance of olive tree during the drought season, judging by the rise of net photosynthesis, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for the concentration of total phenols and for total antioxidant activity in leaves. ln addition, it was observed an increase on yield, size and weight of olive fruits. These results indicate that the use of well-designed, locally-tailored cover crop mixtures, associated with an appropriate mowing time, is a very promising strategy to implement in olive orchards under water scarcity. Thus, cover cropping is a win-win strategy as it increases farm benefits and provides ecosystem services.

2018Conference object

Open access

Clinoptilolite zeolite foliar application on rainfed olive trees: effects on physiology, biochemistry, growth, yield and olive oil quality

Publication . Martins, Sandra; Gonçalves, Alexandre; Silva, Ermelinda; Brito, Cátia; Pinto, Luís; Arrobas, Margarida; Rodrigues, M.A.; Nunes, Fernando M.; Correia, Carlos M.

With the advances of climate change, it is expected harmful consequences to olive tree (Olea europaea L.). Therefore, it is necessary to develop cost-effective practices to reduce the vulnerability of olive crops to the adverse impacts of environmental stresses. Rainfed olive trees were sprayed with zeolites, natural crystalline aluminosilicates, and its effects on photosynthetic activity, phenolic composition, antioxidant activity, leaf minerais concentrations, plant growth, yield, and olive oil quality were assessed. Zeolites application enhanced photosynthetic activity, as well the concentrations of N, Mg, Cu, Zn and Mn in leaves, and changed the secondary metabolism, with decrease oftotal phenols, ortho-diphenols and total antioxidant activity, signs of lower oxidative stress. As consequence, zeolites boosted plant growth, crop yield, and size and weight of fruits. The foliar spray did not significantly affect the oil quality indices free acidity, peroxide value and Km and K270 coefficients. This study strongly suggests that folial' zeolites might be an effective strategy to mitigate the adverse environmental conditions.

2021Conference object

Open access