Comparison of leaf and root nutrients concentration in twenty olive cultivars grown on a calcareous soil

Abstract

Comparing the absorption and translocation efficiency of the nutrients in olive cultivars can lead to the selection of cultivars with higher efficiency. This research was conducted with the aim of comparing the uptake and translocation capacity in 20 olive cultivars (12 domestic and 8 foreign) in a commercial orchard on calcareous soil in a randomized complete block design. Except for copper (Cu), leaf concentration of other elements was within the optimal range. In ʻAmphesis,ʼ high translocation (5.28%) and in ʻAmigdalolia,’ high uptake capacity (12.6) caused an increase in leaf phosphorus (P). Leaf K in all cultivars was higher than the deficiency limit (0.77%). In none of the cultivars, leaf sodium (Na) concentration was higher than the toxicity limit (0.2%), it accumulated in the root of ʻZard-Aliabadʼ and ʻShengeh,ʼ and reduced in their leaf. Leaf iron (Fe) concentration of all cultivars was in the sufficient range (>63 mg kg⁻¹) and the highest was in ʻGorgan-Aʼ and ʻZardʼ and the lowest in ʻKazeroon,ʼ ʻArbequinaʼ and ʻMission.ʼ Although the leaf Cu in ʻAmphesisʼ (4.32 mg kg⁻¹) and ʻArbequinaʼ (4.03 mg kg⁻¹) was above the sufficient limit, in the rest of the cultivars it was below this critical limit. The highest leaf manganese (Mn) concentration (61.35 mg kg⁻¹) and the highest Mn translocation percentage (84.59) were in ʻFeshomi.ʼ Among these cultivars, ʻAmphesisʼ was higher than others in terms of P, potassium (K), Cu and zinc (Zn) leaf concentrations and ʻAmigdalolia in terms of P, K and Zn, and in most cases the reason for this is the higher translocation efficiency.

Keywords:

• Macro-nutrient
• micro-nutrient
• olive
• translocation efficiency
• uptake efficiency

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Abbas Mirsoleimani and Mahdi Najafi-Ghiri. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Abbas Mirsoleimani and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).