Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
introduced to orchards. Providing for the nutritional needs of the tree fruits
and alley crops became more complicated than it was for a scorched earth
monoculture.
As tree density continued to increase with improved rootstocks and train-
ing methods, closely spaced fruit trees in well-defined rows became stand-
ard practices. In most cases, the alleys were covered with grasses, sometimes
with clovers mixed in. Herbicides were used to create 2- to 4-foot-wide weed-
free strips along the tree rows. These practices remain very common for
nonorganic fruit growers. In arid regions with limited irrigation water, both
alleys and tree rows (again, except for the fruit trees) may be left bare for at
least part of the year.
Organic Production Gains Traction
In the late 1900s and early 2000s, the viability and importance of organic
fruit production gained notice, and research on developing environmentally
sound and economically productive orchard floor practices evolved. Much
progress was made from about 2002 to 2010, but there is much we still do
not understand about orchard floor management.
What we know is that everything we do in an orchard affects everything
else. Imagine your orchard as a net or web. Pull on one small string and it
pulls on others, which pull on others, which pull on yet others until the entire
net moves. Planting an alley crop increases soil organic matter and helps cre-
ate soil structure, which influences water infiltration and soil aeration, which
affects nutrient uptake and micro- and macroorganism populations in the
soil, which affects root health and habitat for beneficial organisms, which af-
fects tree health and vigor, which affects tree root growth, which affects the
soil structure, and so on.
Soil Organic Matter
Early biodynamic and organic farming supporters recognized the import-
ance of soil organic matter (SOM), despite lacking the technology and eco-
logical science backgrounds to fully understand why it is important. Greatly
