Soil Restoration Enhances Peach Orchard Productivity

A self-invented soil restoration practice-RERP (patent application No. 2021115124384) was employed in the experimental peach orchard (Sun et al., 2022 (link)). RERP can increase the productivity of the peach orchard (reflecting in fruit yield and quality) by improving soil physical, chemical, and microbial properties in the root zone. In order to implement RERP, a trench (12 m long, 0.8 m wide, and 0.6 m deep) that was 1.2 m apart from the west side of the trees were dug out in October 2020. The dug-out soil was placed in three piles and filled back to the trench according to soil depths (0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, and 40–60 cm). There were three treatments that applied on a total of 45 trees, with three replications for each treatment. Border rows were arranged around test trees. Treatment 1 (T1) was RERP with soil conditioner (3 t ha⁻¹), organic fertilizer (15 t ha⁻¹ DW), and mineral fertilizer (N:P₂O₅:K₂O = 15:5:10, 900 kg ha⁻¹) and evenly applied at soil depths of 20, 40, and 60 cm in the trench. Treatment 2 (T2) was RERP with organic fertilizer. Application materials and methods of T2 was the same as T1, only without the application of 3 t ha⁻¹ soil conditioner. Conventional practice (CK) in the orchard was considered as control, receiving 650 kg ha⁻¹ of urea (46%), 600 kg ha⁻¹ of calcium superphosphate, and 310 kg ha⁻¹ potassium sulfate each year (applied on May and November). Pest control and regular management were conducted as required, following the local practices for all treatments.