Effect of Legume Cover Crop on Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Fruit Weight and Brix | Chapter 07 | New Perspectives in Agriculture and Crop Science Vol. 1
Recent reports show that orange yield
and fruit quality is on the decline in Kenya’s coastal lowlands hence need for
an efficient and sustainable production system. A field study was conducted in
Vitengeni, Ganda and Matuga locations within the coastal lowland of Kenya from
May 2012 to April 2015 to evaluate the effect of three legume cover crops on
orange fruit weight and brix. The treatments included mucuna (Mucuna pruriens),
dolichos (Lablab purpureus), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) cover crops and fallow
of natural vegetation as the control. The experiment was laid out in a
randomised complete block design (RCBD) and each treatment replicated four
times within the four blocks. Data collected were orange fruit weight, orange
fruit brix, weather, soil texture and composition. The data was subjected to
the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the procedures of R statistical analysis
software version 3.3.2 (R Core team, 2015). Mean separation was done using the
least significant difference (LSD) at 5% level of significance. The results
from the study showed that mucuna, dolichos and cowpea significantly (P=.05)
increased fruit weight and brix. There was interaction effect between
treatments and sites. Mucuna increased orange fruit weight by 12.4%, 10.5% and
7.6% for Ganda, Matuga and Vitengeni respectively. Orange fruit weight
increased by 8.8%, 7.8% and 7.2% for Ganda, Matuga and Vitengeni respectively
due to dolichos and 6.0% for Ganda due to cowpea. Orange fruit brix increased
by 5.8%, 5.1% and 4.2% for Vitengeni, Matuga and Ganda respectively due to
mucuna. Cowpea increased orange fruit brix by 4.6%, 3.8% and 3.2% for
Vitengeni, Matuga and Ganda respectively. Orange fruit brix increased by 3.3%
and 3.1% for Vitengeni and Matuga respectively due to dolichos. From the
outcome of this study, mucuna is recommended for use in orange tree orchards as
it is useful in improving yield and fruit quality.
Author(s) Details
J. M. Mulinge
Department
of Crop Sciences, Pwani University, P.O.Box 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.
H.
M. Saha
Department
of Crop Sciences, Pwani University, P.O.Box 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.
L.
G. Mounde
Department
of Crop Sciences, Pwani University, P.O.Box 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.
L.
A. Wasilwa
Kenya
Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), P.O.Box 57811-00100,
Nairobi, Kenya.
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