Effect of row spacing and number of mother cladodes on forage productivity of Opuntia ficus-indica grown under saline conditions

• Published in: Acta horticulturae no. 1067; pp. 291 - 297
• Main Authors: Nasr, Y, Saleh, H, Al-Dakheel, A. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Society for Horticultural Science 01.01.2015
• Subjects: C3 plants; cacti and succulents; cladodes; forage; forage production; grasses; growing season; irrigation scheduling; irrigation water; latitude; longitude; Opuntia ficus-indica; planting; pruning; row spacing; saline soils; saline water; salinity
• ISSN: 0567-7572
• DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1067.40

Opuntia ficus-indica L. is particularly attractive as a feed because of its efficiency in converting water to dry matter, with conversion efficiency greater than C3 grasses and C4 broadleaves. Even though it is well known that cactus is not tolerate to salinity as fruit crop, complementary studies have shown high productivity of cactus under continuous irrigation with saline water. The experiment was carried out at Khaldia Research station (latitude 32°09’, longitude 36°71’), which is characterized by saline soil (ECe = 4.8 dS/m) and saline irrigation water (ECw = 4.39 dS/m). Eight rows of 1 m width (five cladodes in each row) of Opuntia ficus-indica were planted on April 2008. Randomize complete block design (RCBD) with two factors was used within three replicates. The first factor was the spacing between rows (0.5 and 1 m), the second factor was pruning treatments by leaving (2, 3 and 4 cladodes) on the mother plants at April 2009. Fresh forage production was measured at the end of the growing season (Sep. 2010). Results showed significantly higher fresh yield on 1 m “spacing between rows” (1125 t fm/ha) compared to 0.5 m “spacing between rows” (803.4 t fm/ha). Harvest intensity significantly affected yield. Greater yield was obtained when 3 and 4 cladodes were preserved (1080 and 1104 t/ha respectively) compared to two cladodes left (709 t/ha), and that’s may due to leaving more photosynthetic plant area that enhance the re-growth process.