Soil physical and chemical properties and fruit quality with grass cover in a Myrica rubra orchard

To understand the effect of grass coverage on soil nutrition and fruit quality in a Myrica rubra orchard,the effects of three treatments:mung beans,natural grass,and clean tillage at the 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm depth-in the main producing areas of Xianju County,Zhejiang Province were investigated.After three years,the soil and fruit of M.rubra were collected and analyzed using a correlation analysis.Results showed that soil pH increased with grass cultivation,and compared with clean tillage,for the 0-20 cm soil depth,there were increases in organic matters(25.2%-48.9%),available N(7.3%-10.5%),and available P(82.1%-291.1%).Compared with clean tillage,production of M.rubra for the other two treatments increased 1 350-2 250 kg·hm-2 with increases in soluble solids(6.7%-20.0%),vitamin C(42.6%-51.1%),reducing sugars(17.0%-25.1%),and total sugar content(9.7%-14.9%).However,total acids decreased 16.5%-35.4%.The soluble solid content(SSC) / titratable acidity(TA) ratio increased 4.2%-6.2%.Also,the correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between soil organic matter and quality of M.rubra.Since grass coverage and no-tillage could increase soil organic matter,these treatments could improve the quality of M.rubra.