Effect of Cover Crop Species and Liquid Manure Application Rate on Green Manure Production, Leaf Mineral Content, Fruit Quality and Soil Chemical Properties in Pear Orchard

Cover cropping and liquid manure application are considered as effective ways to replace the use of chemicalfertilizer in orchard. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of cover crop species and liquid manureapplication rate on green manure production, leaf mineral content, fruit quality and soil chemical properties inpear orchard. The treatments include rye and hairy vetch as cover crops, two liquid manure application levelsbased on N and K2O requirement on each cover crop species, and chemical fertilizer as control. Green manureproduction was higher in hairy vetch than in rye. K content of pear leaves and soil exchangeable K contentincreased in N based liquid manure application treatments. The yield was higher in rye + liquid manure andfertilizer treatments, and fruit quality was not different between the treatments. Taking all of these intoaccount, rye + K2O requirement-based liquid manure application is recommended in pear orchard for not onlysufficient nutrient supply but also prevention of any problem related with soil K2O accumulation in pearorchard in long-term perspective. KCI Citation Count: 1