Response of the Cobrançosa olive cultivar to diferente strategies for managing soil acidity

Agriculture in the Northeast of Portugal lacks competitiveness due to ecological constraints and reduced technological development. There are many ecological limitations, but soil acidity is one of the main reasons that prevents a sustainable agricultural intensification. This work aims to investigate some of the ways as soil acidity manifests itself on young Cobrançosa olive trees in a pot experiment with the two main soils found in the region, granite (a soil of pH 4.6) and schist (a soil with pH 4.8). The pot experiment was arranged as a completely randomized design with six treatments, consisting on the application of Ca and Mg, P, B, Mo, a negative control– (no nutrient application) and a positive control+ (application of Ca, Mg, P, B and Mo) and four replicates. All the pots also received N and K that were not part of the experimental design. In the schist soil, the treatment showing higher total shoot length was control+, with an average of 61.0 cm per plant, followed by B, with an average of 60.5 cm, whereas the smallest plants were found in the P treatment, averaging 46.8 cm of higher total shoot length. In the granite soil, the treatment that presented the higher and the lower shoot growth were, respectively, control+, with an average of 53.5 cm per plant and control– with an average of 21.0 cm per plant. Chlorophyll fluorescence ratios (FV/FM and FV/F0) and OJIP transient tests showed also a poor performance of the plants receiving Ca + Mg, particularly in the granitic soil. The results showed the marked influence of soil acidity on nutrient availability and the unpredictability of the effect on plants of different strategies to manage soil acidity.Grupo Operacional Novas práticas em olivais de sequeiro: estratégias de mitigação e adaptação às alterações climáticas (Iniciativa ID 278).