Olives Development Using Mulching Techniques

This research was conducted to examine the effect of different types of mulch: tuff, Jeft, and straw on growth and development of "Nabali Mohassan" olives under two different conditions: water harvesting conditions and supplementary irrigation. Two separate field experiments were carried out at two sites water harvesting (site one) and supplementary irrigation (site two). Twelve uniform 5 year -old olive trees were randomly selected in each site. The results from site one revealed that Jeft treatment positively increased electrical conductivity of soil by 36.4%, total dissolved solids by 35.9%, potassium content to 655. 33 mg/kg, phenol content to 1.00 mg/kg. Also, potassium content (4.76 Wks) and phenol content to (12.40 mg/kg) in olive leaves. Straw mulching has potential for increasing soil moisture content in soil (27.47%), physical and chemical characteristics of fruit such as pit, flesh/pit ratio, oil percent based on dry weight, and growth characteristics with reference to leaf area, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and productivity of olive trees.