Study on the effect of planting pattern adjustment on the growth of kiwifruit inter-root microorganisms and fruit quality

Abstract

As the area planted with kiwifruit continues to expand, monoculture continuous cropping is gradually becoming the main mode of its production. However, current kiwifruit soils suffer from nutrient deficiencies and increased toxicity of their own, which are harmful to their yield and quality. The study proposes a kiwifruit-maize intercrop as a starting point for adjusting the cropping pattern. It was then analysed in terms of basic soil physicochemical properties, sucrose enzyme activity, microbial species, and quantity, respectively, and compared with the kiwifruit intercropping method to verify its effect on inter-root microorganisms and fruit quality. The experimental outcomes demonstrated that the adjusted cropping pattern increased the organic matter content year by 3 years, reaching a maximum of 749.36 g·kg-1, with some improvement in all basic physicochemical property indicators such as total phosphorus and fast-acting potassium compared to the preadjustment period. In terms of inter-root soil microbial growth, the kiwifruit-maize intercropping pattern increased microbial species and numbers, with significant differences compared to preadjustment (p < 0.05). In the comparison of fruit quality, the adjusted cropping pattern was of higher quality, with a significant difference (p < 0.05), indicating that this pattern can effectively improve the inter-root microbial ecology of kiwifruit, providing a reference direction for further improvement of its yield and quality.