Effect of Different Mulching Practices on Bacterial Community Composition and Fruit Quality in a Citrus Orchard

Lei Yang, Min Wang, Shuang Li, Jianjun Yu, Yang Chen, Haijian Yang, Wu Wang, Hao Chen and Lin Hong ()
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Lei Yang: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Min Wang: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Shuang Li: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Jianjun Yu: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Yang Chen: Biotechnology Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Haijian Yang: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Wu Wang: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Hao Chen: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China
Lin Hong: Fruit Tree Research Institute, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Citrus fruit, the most abundant global fruit, is primarily concentrated in China. Mulching techniques have demonstrated a favorable effect on the soil’s hydrothermal environment, resulting in enhanced plant growth, yield, and quality. Nevertheless, the impact of mulching on the soil microbiome and fruit quality of Beni Madonna tangor ( Citrus nanko × C. amakusa ) remains unknown. This study aimed to examine the impact of different mulching techniques, namely traditional flat planting (CK), reflective film mulching (RM), black film mulching (BM), corn stalk mulching (CS), green film mulching (GM), and transparent plastic film mulching (TM), on the bacterial diversity, composition, cooccurrence networks, and bulk soil assembly during the ripening stage of Beni Madonna tangor. The various treatments employed in this study exhibited distinct impacts on fruit quality and soil temperature and humidity. Through comprehensively evaluating fruit quality and soil properties, it was found that RM treatment had the best effect, while CK treatment was the worst. The mulching results in a significant decrease in the Shannon indexcompared to the control group. Specifically, mulching with RM, CS, and GM led to a significant increase in Chloroflexi abundance ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, the interaction complexity between bacteria was found to be lower under GM and TM treatments compared to the other mulching treatments. At the genus level, Chloroflexi exhibited a positive correlation with total soluble solid (TSS) and Vitamin C (Vc) contents, however, GP13 showed a converse result. It was determined that Chloroflexi, with a high abundance of RM, promoted an improvement in soil and fruit quality. Ultimately, it can be concluded that various mulching techniques yield distinct impacts on both the soil bacterial composition and citrus quality, with these effects being intricately linked to the core biota’s functionalities within each treatment.

Keywords: citrus; mulching; bacterial community; fruit quality; microbial function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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