{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T21:56:32Z","timestamp":1776462992661,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":75,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"R&D + I\u2014Research and Innovation Projects in Partnership-Climate Change Mitigation","award":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000018-LA3.2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000018-LA3.2"]}]},{"name":"R&D + I\u2014Research and Innovation Projects in Partnership-Climate Change Mitigation","award":["LA3.3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA3.3"]}]},{"name":"R&D + I\u2014Research and Innovation Projects in Partnership-Climate Change Mitigation","award":["LA3.4-\u201cMOPLUS\u201d"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA3.4-\u201cMOPLUS\u201d"]}]},{"name":"Recovery and Resilience Plan"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Horticulturae"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The MOPLUS project, funded by the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), aims to enhance soil organic matter, soil structure, and water retention in apple orchards located in the \u201cMa\u00e7\u00e3 de Alcoba\u00e7a\u201d Protected Geographical Indication area through organic fertilization based on locally available livestock effluents, thereby reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers under Mediterranean climatic conditions. This study evaluated the physiological and biometric responses of apple trees subjected to four fertilization strategies (M1\u2013M4) in three commercial \u2018Gala\u2019 orchards in central Portugal over three growing seasons (2023\u20132025). Measurements included leaf functional traits, gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, spectral indices, vegetative growth, fruit production per tree and mean fruit weight. Interannual climatic variability and orchard-specific conditions were the dominant drivers of tree response, while fertilization effects were smaller and mainly expressed through interactions with year and orchard. When analyzed within the same orchard, fertilization strategies M2 and particularly M3 maintained physiological performance, vegetative growth, and fruit production per tree at levels comparable to full mineral fertilization. Among treatments, M3 showed the most consistent responses across sites and years, indicating that partial mineral substitution with pig slurry can sustain tree functioning while maintaining or enhancing fruit production per tree. The most restrictive strategy (M4) occasionally showed reduced photosynthetic performance under specific orchard\u2013year combinations, suggesting a threshold effect associated with stronger mineral reduction, but without evidence of generalized physiological stress. Overall, these findings demonstrate that partial substitution of mineral fertilizers by organic amendments\u2014especially pig slurry (M3) and, to a lesser extent, composted cattle manure (M2)\u2014is agronomically viable, allowing apple tree performance and productivity to be maintained while enhancing system resilience under Mediterranean climatic variability. These results also provide practical decision support for site-adapted fertilization management in commercial drip-irrigated apple orchards, supporting reduced mineral fertilizer dependence without compromising productivity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/horticulturae12020192","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T12:46:11Z","timestamp":1770122771000},"page":"192","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Does Partial Organic Fertilization Maintain Physiological and Biometric Performance in Apple Trees?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7137-0859","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6323-0993","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Margarida","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Francisco","family":"Martinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-7207-233X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ver\u00f3nica","family":"Amado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Sid\u00f3nio","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Bulc\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jorge","family":"Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEAF\u2014Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7732-9072","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariana","family":"Mota","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEAF\u2014Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7218-3745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel Le\u00e3o de","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P., Estrada de Leiria, 2460-059 Alcoba\u00e7a, Portugal"},{"name":"GREEN-IT\u2014Bioresources for Sustainability, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e38397","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2024.e38397","article-title":"Sustainability Analysis of Apple Orchards: Integrating Environmental and Economic Perspectives","volume":"10","author":"Baima","year":"2024","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"AGROGES\u2014Sociedade de Estudos e Projectos de Gest\u00e3o, Lda. 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