The EU is promoting new agroforestry practices to encourage sustainable intensification of land use. Among the innovative agroforestry systems, the cultivation of a wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.) in olive orchards as an understory crop has been proposed. The wild asparagus here studied is evergreen. We demonstrate that this species has got the ability to maintain positive photosynthesis under high (up to 45°C) and low (down to 0°C) temperatures, and intense water stress, as well the ability to morphologically adjust to the light environment, makes this species able to grow under a variety of extreme conditions. Particularly, the photosynthetic activity at low winter temperature, combined with the evergreen habitus, makes the plant especially suitable as an understory crop in deciduous tree plantations. However, considering that olive orchards typically intercept no more than 55% of the photosynthetically active radiation, the wild asparagus appears to be well suited to turn part of the transmitted unutilized radiation into an additional crop. In this case, however, the best positioning of the plant is probably in the most sunlit areas of the olive orchard, which is the inter-row, assuming that rows are oriented north-south.
OLIVE (OLEA EUROPEA L.) AND WILD ASPARAGUS (ASPARAGUS ACUTIFOLIUS L.) AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM: ASPARAGUS PERFORMANCE AND ITS BEST POSITIONING IN THE OLIVE ORCHARD
BENINCASA, Paolo;
2016
Abstract
The EU is promoting new agroforestry practices to encourage sustainable intensification of land use. Among the innovative agroforestry systems, the cultivation of a wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.) in olive orchards as an understory crop has been proposed. The wild asparagus here studied is evergreen. We demonstrate that this species has got the ability to maintain positive photosynthesis under high (up to 45°C) and low (down to 0°C) temperatures, and intense water stress, as well the ability to morphologically adjust to the light environment, makes this species able to grow under a variety of extreme conditions. Particularly, the photosynthetic activity at low winter temperature, combined with the evergreen habitus, makes the plant especially suitable as an understory crop in deciduous tree plantations. However, considering that olive orchards typically intercept no more than 55% of the photosynthetically active radiation, the wild asparagus appears to be well suited to turn part of the transmitted unutilized radiation into an additional crop. In this case, however, the best positioning of the plant is probably in the most sunlit areas of the olive orchard, which is the inter-row, assuming that rows are oriented north-south.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
