Relationships between cover performance and date of fall-seeding where winter rye was broadcast into a standing potato crop

1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Linnell M. Edwards ◽  
John M. Sadler

Winter rye was broadcast into a potato crop just after topkilling with the object of avoiding post-harvest delays in establishing a winter ground cover. Rye treatments were interseeded (i) at intervals of 1 d for up to 10 d before potato digging, without post-harvest tillage and (ii) just after digging and preparatory seedbed tillage as a comparative standard. Generally, cover performance of rye, measured as plant count, tiller count or dry mass of plants showed significant (P < 0.05) increase with decreasing days to potato digging up to 3 or 4 d before digging. There was no sacrifice of rye cover using this inter-seeding approach compared with traditional post-(potato) harvest seeding in a prepared seedbed. Seeding 3–4 d before potato harvest is recommended on the basis of superior fall plant count, spring tiller count and shoot dry mass, and winter survival indices on either of these days.Key words: Cover crops, winter rye, winter survival, companion cropping

1996 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Shepherd ◽  
E. I. Lord

SUMMARYAgronomic practices can be modified to decrease autumn soil nitrate and nitrate leaching. This experiment aimed to measure the effectiveness of such practices when integrated into a farming system under UK conditions. The experiment started in autumn 1988 on a sandy soil in Nottinghamshire, UK, and comprised a four-course rotation of potatoes–cereal–sugarbeet–cereal. Three husbandry systems were superimposed, ranging from current commercial practice to most nitrate retentive. Plots were split further to receive either half or full recommended rates of nitrogen (N) fertilizer. Soil mineral N (Nmin) and nitrate leaching (using porous ceramic cups) were measured on selected treatments; this paper presents the findings after five winters.Autumn Nmin and N leached were strongly influenced by the previous crop, consistently following the order potatoes > cereal > sugarbeet. Pre-harvest management (chiefly N fertilizer input) affected Nmin, and post-harvest management also modified N loss. Cover crops (winter rye or forage rape) after cereals removed 10–40 kg/ha N, depending on previous N management, time and method of establishment. They decreased leaching and were particularly effective if they were able to establish fully before significant drainage occurred. Nmin following sugarbeet, which had received 125 kg/ha N, was less after November lifting than after October lifting (16 and 28 kg/ha N, respectively, as amean of autumns 1989–92). Potatoes left most Nmin (a mean of 60 kg/ha for autumns 1989–92, receiving 220 kg/ha fertilizer N), and their late harvest gave little scope for decreasing leaching losses by establishing green cover before the start of winter. After late harvested root crops (both beet and potatoes), it was often preferable to leave the land fallow over winter, rather than ploughing and drilling a winter cereal.We show that nitrate leaching can be decreased by simple and inexpensive modifications to an existing crop rotation. Averaged over five winters, adopting such practices decreased the mean N concentration in drainage from 22·3 to 14·5 mg/1.


2020 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 04010
Author(s):  
Olga Tomashova ◽  
Nicolay Osenniy ◽  
Suleyman Abdurashytov ◽  
Aleksandr Ilyin ◽  
Lubov Veselova

The goal is to develop the main elements of biologization of the No-till system in the conditions of the Piedmont-steppe zone of Crimea, to study the effect of various types of ground cover crops on soil fertility, yield and grain quality of agricultural crops in conditions of insufficient and unstable moisture. When intermediate crops were cultivated as ground cover crops in the No-till system, the available moisture reserves in the meter layer were at a satisfactory level after vetch cultivation - 107.6 mm and in the control (without ground cover crops) - 99.6 mm. The highest yield of green mass of ground cover crops was in all variants with the use of multicomponent mixtures, which was 2 or more times higher than the yield of intermediate ground cover crops from 1–2 and 3 spring crops and almost 10 times higher than that of winter rye. This made it possible to fix 30–33 kg of nitrogen, 4–5.9 kg of phosphorus and 13.9–16.7 kg of potassium in plants and in the root system annually by the end of the growing season of spring crops per hectare of sowing.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 476d-476
Author(s):  
Gary R. Cline ◽  
Anthony F. Silvernail

A split-plot factorial experiment examined effects of tillage and winter cover crops on sweet corn in 1997. Main plots received tillage or no tillage. Cover crops consisted of hairy vetch, winter rye, or a mix, and N treatments consisted of plus or minus N fertilization. Following watermelon not receiving inorganic N, vetch, and mix cover cropsproduced total N yields of ≈90 kg/ha that were more than four times greater than those obtained with rye. However, vetch dry weight yields (2.7 mg/ha) were only about 60% of those obtained in previous years due to winter kill. Following rye winter cover crops, addition of ammonium nitrate to corn greatly increased (P < 0.05) corn yields and foliar N concentrations compared to treatments not receiving N. Following vetch, corn yields obtained in tilled treatments without N fertilization equaled those obtained with N fertilization. However, yields obtained from unfertilized no-till treatments were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than yields of N-fertilized treatments. Available soil N was significantly (P < 0.05) greater following vetch compared to rye after corn planting. No significant effects of tillage on sweet corn plant densities or yields were detected. It was concluded that no-tillage sweet corn was successful, and N fixed by vetch was able to sustain sweet corn production in tilled treatments but not in no-till treatments.In previous years normal, higher-yielding vetch cover crops were able to sustain sweet corn in both tilled and no-till treatments.


Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Gabriella Möller ◽  
Tamar Keasar ◽  
Idan Shapira ◽  
Daniella Möller ◽  
Marco Ferrante ◽  
...  

Enriching agroecosystems with non-crop vegetation is a popular strategy for conservation biocontrol. In vineyards, the effects of specific seeded or planted cover crops on natural enemies are well-studied, whereas conserving spontaneously developing weeds received less attention. We compared parasitoid communities between matched pairs of vineyard plots in northern Israel, differing in weed management practices: “herbicide”, repeated herbicide applications vs. “ground cover”, maintaining resident weeds and trimming them when needed. Using suction sampling, we assessed the parasitoids’ abundance, richness, and composition during three grape-growing seasons. Ground cover plots had greater parasitoid abundances and cumulative species richness than herbicide-treated plots, possibly because of their higher vegetation cover and richness. Dominant parasitoid species varied in their magnitude and direction of response to weed management. Their responses seem to combine tracking of host distributions with attraction to additional vegetation-provided resources. Parasitoid community composition was mildly yet significantly influenced by weed management, while season, year, and habitat (weeds vs. vine) had stronger effects. Vineyard weeds thus support local biocontrol agents and provide additional previously demonstrated benefits (e.g., soil conservation, lower agrochemical exposure) but might also attract some crop pests. When the benefits outweigh this risk, weed conservation seems a promising step towards more sustainable agricultural management.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 441
Author(s):  
Hans J. Kandel ◽  
Dulan P. Samarappuli ◽  
Kory L. Johnson ◽  
Marisol T. Berti

Adoption of cover crop interseeding in the northwestern Corn Belt in the USA is limited due to inadequate fall moisture for establishment, short growing season, additional costs, and need for adapted winter-hardy species. This study evaluated three cover crop treatments—no cover crop, winter rye (Secale cereale L.), and winter camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz)—which were interseeded at the R6 soybean growth stage, using two different soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) maturity groups (0.5 vs. 0.9) and two row spacings (30.5 vs. 61 cm). The objective was to evaluate these treatments on cover crop biomass, soil cover, plant density, and soybean yield. Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield was also measured the following year. The early-maturing soybean cultivar (0.5 maturity) resulted in increased cover crop biomass and soil cover, with winter rye outperforming winter camelina. However, the early-maturing soybean yielded 2308 kg·ha−1, significantly less compared with the later maturing cultivar (2445 kg·ha−1). Narrow row spacing had higher soybean yield, but row spacing did not affect cover crop growth. Spring wheat should not follow winter rye if rye is terminated right before seeding the wheat. However, wheat planted after winter camelina was no different than when no cover crop was interseeded in soybean. Interseeding cover crops into established soybean is possible, however, cover crop biomass accumulation and soil cover are limited.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto BF Branco ◽  
Sally F Blat ◽  
Tais GS Gimenes ◽  
Rodrigo HD Nowaki ◽  
Humberto S Araújo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The production of horticultural crops in no-tillage and in rotation with cover crops reduces the dependency in nitrogen fertilizer, due to increased soil organic matter and by biological fixation performed by legumes. Thus, the aim of this work was to study rates of nitrogen fertilization and cover crops in the agronomic performance of tomato and broccoli grown under no-tillage. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design with four replications. Treatments consisted of cover crops, sunn hemp and millet, and four rates of nitrogen fertilization (0, 50, 100 and 200 kg/ha of nitrogen), for both the tomato and broccoli crops. All soil management was performed in no-tillage. For tomato crops we evaluated the plant growth, the nitrate concentration of sprouts and fruits and yield of commercial and non commercial fruits. For broccoli we evaluated plant growth and yield. There was an interaction effect between cover crop and nitrogen rates to tomato growth measured at 100 days after transplanting, for plant height, number of fruit bunches, dry mass of leaves and diameter of the stalk. The tomato commercial fruit number and yield showed maximum values with 137 and 134 kg/ha of N respectively, on the sunn hemp straw. The nitrate concentration of the tomato sprouts was linearly increasing with the increase of nitrogen rates, when grown on the millet straw. For broccoli production, the maximum fresh mass of commercial inflorescence was with 96 kg/ha of N, when grown on the millet straw.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
RICARDO SFEIR DE AGUIAR ◽  
PAULO VICENTE CONTADOR ZACCHEO ◽  
CARMEN SILVIA VIEIRA JANEIRO NEVES ◽  
MARCELO SFEIR DE AGUIAR ◽  
FERNANDO TEIXEIRA DE OLIVEIRA

ABSTRACT The use of cover crops species may be an important strategy in the pursuit of sustainability of agroecosystems, considering benefits to soil, such as improvements of physical and chemical characteristics, and weed control. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of winter cover crops and other soil managements on chemical soil properties, on the cycle, on the production of the first cycle and on the fruit quality of banana cv. Nanicão Jangada in Andirá – PR, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in a commercial. Planting of banana suckers from the grower area occurred in the first half of March 2011, with a spacing of 2.40 m between rows and 1.90 m between plants. The experiment was designed in randomized blocks with four replications and six plants per plot. The six treatments were: black oat (Avenastrigosa Schreb), forage turnip (Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiferus), consortium of black oat and forage turnip, chicken litter, residues of banana plants, and bare ground. The evaluations were vegetative development and life cycle of banana plants, yield and quality of fruits, soil chemical characterstics, and fresh and dry mass of green manures. The results were submitted to ANOVA (F Test), and Tukey test at 5 % probability. Black oat and black oat with forage turnip consortium were superior in biomass production. Systems of soil management had no effect on the variables, except in the periods between planting and flowering and between planting and harvest, which were shorter in the treatment of soil management with crop residues, longer in the treatment with forage turnip, and intermediate in the other treatments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Agnieszka I. Piotrowicz-Cieślak ◽  
Maciej Niedzielski ◽  
Dariusz J. Michalczyk ◽  
Wiesław Łuczak ◽  
Barbara Adomas

Germinability and the content of soluble carbohydrates were analysed in cereal seed (winter rye, cv. Warko; spring wheat, cv. Santa; hexaploid winter triticale, cv. Fidelio and cv. Woltario). Seed moisture content (mc) was equilibrated over silica gel to 0.08 g H<sub>2</sub>O/g dry mass and stored in a desiccator at 20<sup>o</sup>C for up to 205 weeks or were equilibrated to mc 0.06, 0.08 or 0.10 g H<sub>2</sub>O/g dm and subjected to artificial aging at 35<sup>o</sup>C in air-tight laminated aluminium foil packages for 205 weeks. It was shown that the rate of seed aging depended on the species and seed moisture content. The fastest decrease of germinability upon storage was observed in seed with the highest moisture level. Complete germinability loss for winter rye, winter triticale cv. Fidelio, winter triticale cv. Woltario and spring wheat seed with mc 0.10 g H<sub>2</sub>O/g dm<sup>3</sup> occurred after 81, 81, 101 and 133 weeks, respectively. Fructose, glucose, galactose, myo-inositol, sucrose, galactinol, raffinose, stachyose and verbascose were the main soluble carbohydrates found in the seed. The obtained data on the contents of specific sugars and the composition of soluble sugars fraction in seed of rye, wheat and triticale did not corroborate any profound effect of reducing sugars, sucrose and oligosaccharides on seed longevity.


1996 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 586-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasey N. Mwaja ◽  
John B. Masiunas ◽  
Catherine E. Eastman

The effect of cover-crop management on growth and yield of `Bravo' cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Capitata L.), `Market Pride' tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), and `Mustang' snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was determined. Each fall, `Wheeler' winter rye (Secale cereale L.) and `Oregon Crown' hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) were interseeded. The following spring, the cover crops were killed by either applying glyphosate and mowing (CC-G) or mowing and disking (CC-D). Trifluralin was preplant incorporated into bare ground as a conventional tillage (CT) treatment. In 1992 and 1993, a chicken (Gallus gallus L.) based fertilizer was applied to half the subplots. The greatest snap bean and cabbage yields were in CT. The system with the greatest tomato yields varied. In 1991, the greatest tomato yields were in the CT treatment, while in 1992 yields were greatest in the CT and CC-D treatments, and in 1993 the greatest yields were in CT and CC-G. Cabbage yields were greater in the fertilized than the unfertilized treatments. In 1992, infestations of diamondback moth, imported cabbageworm, and cabbage looper were greater in CT than in the CC-G treatment. Three years of the CC-G treatment increased soil organic matter from 3.07% to 3.48% and increased soil pH from 6.30 to 6.51, while neither changed in the CT. Chemical names used: N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine (glyphosate); 2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipro`pyl-4-(trifluoromethyl) benzenamine (trifluralin).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document