EFFECT OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SOIL SURFACE MAINTENANCE

ON THE CONTENT OF LEAF PIGMENTS AND ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS IN

APRICOT
Zarya Rankova*, Irina Staneva, Vanya Akova
Fruit Growing Institute, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, *rankova_zarya@abv.bg

INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS

Weed control in young orchards, including apricot trees, is among the major
agrotechnical and plant protection practices that largely determine their
successful and profitable exploitation. The juvenile period is defined as
risky with regard to the application of herbicides, due to the strong
sensitivity of young trees to a number of active substances. For evaluating
the selectivity of the herbicides (soil and foliar), along with monitoring of
the main biometric indicators characterizing plant growth, an information
on their physiological status is also necessary. The aim of the present study
was to investigate the effect of different weed management approaches in a
young apricot plantation on the content of leaf pigments and essential
nutrients in the leaves of the apricot cultivar ‘Goldrich’.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Very good control of the weed association in the plantation was achieved in
the studied variants. The application of flumioxazin Pledge 50 WP – 400gha-1
completely controlled the emergence of weeds throughout the vegetation
season and the duration of the efficient activity of the active substance at the
applied rate was about 120 days. Visual symptoms of phytotoxicity or
suppression of tree growth were not observed.
The different variants of maintenance of the soil surface influenced the
content of pigments in the leaves of the experimental trees. The obtained
data for the content of chlorophyll (mgg-1 DW) and carotenoids (mgg-1 DW)
showed the same trend throughout the study period and the results are
presented as average values in Table 1.
The trial was carried out in 2020 – 2022 in a young apricot plantation,
established on the territory of the Fruit-Growing Institute of Plovdiv in the
spring of 2020. The object of the study was ‘Goldrich’ cultivar grafted on
Wavit rootstock. The following variants for maintaining the soil surface
were implemented: 1. Flumioxazin – Pledge 50 WP (200 gha-1); 2.
Flumioxazin – Pledge 50 WP (400 gha-1); 3. Foliar treatment with the
herbicide combination flumioxazin + quizalofop-ethyl – Pledge 50 WP (200
gha-1) + Targa Super 5 EC (2,0 Lha-1); 4. Foliar treatment with glyphosate –
NASA 360 EC (5,0 Lha-1); 5. Mechanized tillage; 6. Control (unweeded,
untreated). The soil application of the herbicide flumioxazin was carried
out early in spring, before the vegetation season, and the foliar herbicides
and herbicide combinations (Var. 3 and 4) – after the emergence of the
weeds.
The main characteristics and the total nutrient content of the soil in the
experimental plantation were analysed by standard methods. The
nitrogen content (N-NH4+ and N-NO3–) was determined by the distillation
method, after extraction with 1% KCl; phosphorus (P2O5) – DL method
with hydrazine sulphate reducer; potassium (K2O) – with a flame
photometer. Soil reaction (pH) was determined potentiometrically in an
aqueous extract.
The leaf samples for determining the chlorophyll content and mineral
composition were collected randomly from the middle part of one-year
old shoots.
The leaf samples for analysing the content of pigments were taken in mid-
June and for evaluating the mineral composition – in early August,
according to the adopted methods for leaf analysis. The content of
chlorophyll (a, b and a+b) was determined spectrophotometrically in an
extract in 95% ethyl alcohol. The leaf samples were analysed for nitrogen
content by variants, using the method of Kjeldahl, potassium – by the
flame photometric method, calcium and magnesium –
complexometrically, phosphorus and iron – spectrophotometrically. The
obtained results were processed by Duncan’s test.

Table 1. Chlorophyll content (mgg-1 DW) in apricot leaf samples under different soil surface
maintenance approaches, on average for the period 2020 – 2022

Chl. a Chl. b Chl. a+b Carotenoids

Variants
(mgg-1 DW) (mgg-1 DW) (mgg-1 DW) (mgg-1 DW)
Pledge 50 WP 200 g/ha 3.14 а 1.00 а 4.13 а 2.57 а
Pledge 50 WP 400 g/ha 3.62 а 1.29 а 4.90 а 3.09 а
Pledge 50 WP 200 g/ha +
3.42 а 1.28 а 4.70 а 2.99 а
Targa Super 5 EC 2,0 L/ha
NASA 360 EC 5.0 L/ha 3.19 а 0.97 а 4.16 а 2.56 а
Mechanized soil tillage 3.05 а 0.94 а 3.99 а 2.46 а
Control /untreated/ 2.55 а 0.92 а 3.53 а 2.22 а

CONCLUSIONS
The results obtained show that the chemical weed control favoured the
accumulation of larger amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron
in the apricot leaves. The highest values for the content of leaf pigments and
mineral elements were established in the variant treated with flumioxazin – ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Pledge 50 WP (400 gha-1). The present study was financed by the Scientific Research
The application of the active substances included in the study had a Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science – Bulgaria,
favourable effect on the content of chlorophyll in the leaves, which is a under project KP-06-Н36/6 – 2019, entitled: ‘INNOVATIVE
prerequisite for the good physiological status of the apricot trees. SOLUTIONS FOR PROTECTING PLANT HEALTH AND
The lowest values of all the studied elements and leaf pigments were found PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY AND HEALTHY FRUITS’.
in the control variant.
V Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing, Zagreb, Croatia, June 18-21, 2023