Integration of cover crops for organic orchard soil management

This document outlines a sustainable inter-row soil management practice for organic orchards, focusing on cover cropping to reduce compaction, prevent erosion, and enhance soil fertility and biodiversity. Recommended mixtures include legumes like white clover, micro-clover, and dwarf alfa-alfa with grasses such as sheep fescue, ensuring ground cover with minimal competition for water and nutrients. A seeding rate of 2 g/m² ensures optimal density. Successful establishment requires adequate moisture and full sunlight, especially for micro-clover. Cutting cover crops in May–June and using them as mulch supplies up to 50–60 kg N, 10 kg P, and 70–80 kg K per hectare, supporting nutrient cycling. The method is tailored for temperate fruit crops and developed by IO-PIB – National Institute of Horticultural Research, Poland, 2023, as part of the BIOFRUITNET project, hosted on Organic Eprints in English (USA).