Cover Crops Improve the Vegetative and Reproductive Traits of Peach Trees at the Semiarid Area of El Oasis Sur, Mendoza Province (Argentina)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of cover crop treatments on vegetative and reproductive traits of peach trees in the semiarid region of El Oasis Sur, Mendoza, Argentina. The treatments comprised mechanical tillage (TC), continuous lucerne cover (TL), and annual common vetch + oats cover (TVO). The current shoot length was observed to have been increased by both the TL (+ 35%) and TVO (+ 29%) treatments. The application of cover crops resulted in an enhancement of fruit diameter by 3–4 mm during the initial year. However, in the subsequent year, the impact was somewhat diminished, with an increase of only 2.4–3.6%. The fruit firmness, as determined one week prior to the harvest, exhibited a notable enhancement from 55.0 to 66.8% under the influence of the cover crops. Furthermore, the TL resulted in a 16.7% augmentation in the number of fruits per tree, which, when coupled with the improvement in fruit size, led to an overall increase in fruit yield of 3–7 kg per tree. The utilisation of cover crops, particularly lucerne, did not result in any adverse effects on the vegetative and reproductive dynamics of peach trees. Conversely, the application of cover crops exerted a beneficial influence on vegetative growth, fruit size, fruit firmness, the number of fruits per tree and overall fruit yield in the peach cv. Cristalino.