Case studies tagged with irrigation

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Impact of irrigation and fertilization on Black truffle (T. melanosporum) fructification

The environmental factors that play a role in the fructification of black truffle are well known. In particular, low water availability during summer period inhibits fruiting. These elements result from observations and tests under controlled conditions. At the time of the study (late 1970s), there was no field trial to determine experimentally the influence of environmental factors in cultivated truffle conditions. A trial on a truffle farm located in south-eastern France was therefore set up in 1979 to clarify the influence of soil fertility and moisture levels on Black truffle...


Time and dose of irrigation impact Tuber melanosporum proliferation in young black truffle orchards

Wild truffle producing mediterranean landscape

Tuber melanosporum, the fungus that produces the priced Black Truffle, is adapted to Mediterranean droughts.  Usually the production of truffles increases in years with higher precipitation. This hinted early farmers into watering the orchards to obtain better crops, but, what happens if we water too much?  One of the reasons we do not find truffles in forests with abundant rains could be that in wetter conditions other fungi can outcompete T. melanosporum and displace it from the roots of the trees causing the disappearance of the fungus and the end to truffle production...