Influence of mulch on pear production

Recently the use of mulch is present in all kinds of orchards. In this paper, the effects of mulch were investigated in young 'Williams' pear trees. Our study was conducted in Kosovo during 2013-2015 in a three- to five-year-old pear orchard using a nested experimental design. The aim was to assess different levels of mulch on vegetative and productive parameters. In the first year of experiment, the trees were mulched at a thickness of 10 cm, and 20 cm in the second year of experiment. Using ANOVA we found significant changes in all parameters. Mulching had a positive effect. The level of thickness (wood chips) of 20 cm had the greatest effect in comparison with the level of 10 cm. Our result confirmed that mulch can be successfully applied in pear orchard as an ideal water saving technique, reducing evaporation, preventing weeds, adding organic matter, increasing production and decreasing canopy volume together with trunk diameter.