HUBEI AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES ›› 2026, Vol. 65 ›› Issue (7): 123-126.doi: 10.14088/j.cnki.issn0439-8114.2026.07.019

• Horticulture & Local Products • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The influence of inter-row grass mulching on the growth characteristics and orchard microenvironment of kiwifruit

ZHAI Jing-hua, JI Xiao-mei, ZHANG Hong, CHEN Zhi-wei, YUE You-zhang, LI Xiu-li   

  1. Institute of Forestry and Fruit Tree, Wuhan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430075, China
  • Received:2026-03-26 Online:2026-07-25 Published:2026-07-23

Abstract: To investigate the effects of inter-row grass mulching on the growth characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics and orchard microenvironment of kiwifruit(Actinidia chinensis Planch.), the 4-year-old kiwifruit Jinfeng Youxi was used as the research object. Three treatments were established including MSZ(inter-row planting of Vicia villosa Roth.),SMC(inter-row planting of Vulpia myuros), and CK(natural grass cover). The biological characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics, temperature and relative humidity of the orchard at 1 m above the orchard floor were measured. The results indicated that compared with CK, the MSZ and SMC treatments increased leaf length by 2.74% and 8.38%, leaf width by 1.39% and 2.02%, and hundred-leaf weight by 6.86% and 8.43%, respectively. The SMC treatment increased the current-year shoot diameter by 8.86%, while the leaf water content decreased by 1.80% and 0.12%, respectively, though the overall leaf water content remained within a relatively stable range. The MSZ treatment effectively increased the chlorophyll content of kiwifruit leaves by 9.17%. Both MSZ and SMC treatments reduced the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium content in kiwifruit leaves, but the reduction was smaller under the SMC treatment. Both MSZ and SMC treatments effectively enhanced the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance, reduced intercellular CO2 concentration, and increased the instantaneous water use efficiency of kiwifruit leaves. Compared with CK, the MSZ and SMC treatments effectively reduced air temperature in kiwifruit orchards in August by 0.10 ℃ and 1.44 ℃, respectively, and increased the relative air humidity by 5.37 and 1.76 percentage points, respectively. Therefore, inter-row planting of Vicia villosa or Vulpia myuros in kiwifruit orchards was an effective agricultural management practice and worth promoting.

Key words: inter-row grass mulching, kiwifruit(Actinidia chinensis Planch.), growth characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics, microenvironment

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