Almond Series #1

In 2019 we set up a trial with an almond grower in California to better understand whether a biological approach can improve soil health, reduce synthetic inputs, improve water holding capacity, and withstand disease pressure, all without decreasing yields or profitability. 

We established two 40 acre blocks, split into three different treatment programs and one control. The specific treatment programs are below: 

* Provide is a shelf-stable biological inoculant containing thousands of diverse bacteria and fungi to support plant health, and Revive is both a food source for these microorganisms that contains humics to break down salts.

Results: 

We observed no differences in yield between treatments, but direct microscopy tests showed significant improvement in total and active fungi, bacteria and protozoa for the two treatments with Provide/Revive compared with their adjacent blocks. The Fungi to Bacteria ratio improved by 78% for Treatment #1 and by 48% for Treatment #3. For treatments #2 and #4, the Fungi to Bacteria ratio worsened by 58% and 25.5% respectively. This ratio is important to keep track of when growing almonds because as a deciduous tree, almonds require more fungi than bacteria for ideal plant and crop health. 

Visual assessment of soil health showed significant improvement of tilth, structure, porosity, drainage, water holding capacity, and organic matter building, in the blocks with the cover crop (Treatments #1 & #2).