CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

There are not many studies on sustainable nitrogen (N) management in sweet cherry orchards, although agricultural use of N fertilizers in excess of crop require-ments has increased concerns about potential contamination of surface and groundwater. Thus, a better understanding and management of orchard N fertiliza-tion by taking into account soil and crop characteristics is required. The aim of this work was to systematize the information about the site-specific management of N fertilization. Our research was carried out in the Los Antiguos valley, Southern Patagonia, Argentina. The study included 90% of the valley sweet cherry orchards that were GPS-referenced and older than three-years-old. Leaf and soil samples were collected and ArcView 9.2 Software was used to extrapolate the data of land usage, soil and leaf N content, irrigation systems, and potential yield to map the valley, and to upload the results to the Geographical Information System (GIS). Also, correlations were calculated to determine the relationship between soil and leaf N content. N content in different soil layers was analyzed. Soils were N-deficient in their top layers (0-30 cm depth) in 80% of the orchards while 55% of the leaf samples tested showed an appropriate N level. No linear relationships were found between leaf and soil N content (p=0.772 and p=0.6428, for 0-30 and 30-60 cm depth respectively).