Effect of Soil Management Systems on the Vegetative Growth Potential of Black Currant (Ribes nigrum L.) Cultivars

This experiment evaluated the effect of soil management systems on the vegetative growth potential of black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) cultivars. Three soil management systems were used: I – bare fallow i.e. continuous tillage; II – sawdust mulch, and III – black polyethylene foil mulch. Six black currant cultivars were included: ‘Ben Lomond’, ‘Ben Sarek’, ‘Titania’, ‘Čačanska Crna’, ‘Tisel’ and ‘Tiben’. The highest values of vegetative growth parameters were obtained in 'Čačanska Crna' and 'Ben Lomond' and the lowest in 'Ben Sarek'. Bare fallow and sawdust mulch treatments showed no differences in the tested parameters, whereas significantly lower values were recorded under foil mulch treatment.