Combining crop diversification practices can benefit cereal production in temperate climates
Rodriguez, Carolina LU
; Mårtensson, Linda Maria Dimitrova
LU
; Jensen, Erik Steen
and Carlsson, Georg
(2021)
In Agronomy for Sustainable Development
41(4).
- Abstract
Diversifying cropping systems by increasing the number of cash and cover crops in crop rotation plays an important role in improving resource use efficiency and in promoting synergy between ecosystem processes. The objective of this study was to understand how the combination of crop diversification practices influences the performance of arable crop sequences in terms of crop grain yield, crop and weed biomass, and nitrogen acquisition in a temperate climate. Two field experiments were carried out. The first was a 3-year crop sequence with cereal or grain legume as the first crops, with and without undersown forage legumes and forage legume-grass crops, followed by a cereal crop. The second experiment was a 2-year crop sequence with... (More)
Diversifying cropping systems by increasing the number of cash and cover crops in crop rotation plays an important role in improving resource use efficiency and in promoting synergy between ecosystem processes. The objective of this study was to understand how the combination of crop diversification practices influences the performance of arable crop sequences in terms of crop grain yield, crop and weed biomass, and nitrogen acquisition in a temperate climate. Two field experiments were carried out. The first was a 3-year crop sequence with cereal or grain legume as the first crops, with and without undersown forage legumes and forage legume-grass crops, followed by a cereal crop. The second experiment was a 2-year crop sequence with cereal or legume as the first crops, a legume cover crop, and a subsequent cereal crop. For the first time, crop diversification practices were combined to identify plant-plant interactions in spatial and temporal scales. The results partly confirm the positive effect of diversifying cereal-based cropping systems by including grain legumes and cover crops in the crop sequence. Legume cover crops had a positive effect on subsequent cereal grain yield in one of the experiments. Using faba beans as the first crop in the crop sequence had both a positive and no effect on crop biomass and N acquisition of the subsequent cereal. In cover crops composed of a forage legume-grass mixture, the grass biomass and N acquisition were consistently increased after the grain legume, compared to the cereal-preceding crop. However, differences in the proportion of legume to grass in mixture did not influence crop yield or N acquisition in the subsequent cereal. In conclusion, these results support that increased crop diversity across spatial and temporal scales can contribute to resource-efficient production and enhance the delivery of services, contributing to more sustainable cropping systems.
(Less)
- author
- Rodriguez, Carolina
LU
; Mårtensson, Linda Maria Dimitrova
LU
; Jensen, Erik Steen
and Carlsson, Georg
- publishing date
- 2021-08
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Cover crops, Crop sequence, Forage legumes, Grain legumes, Intercropping, Plant mixtures
- in
- Agronomy for Sustainable Development
- volume
- 41
- issue
- 4
- article number
- 48
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85109104357
- ISSN
- 1774-0746
- DOI
- 10.1007/s13593-021-00703-1
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Funding Information: Open access funding provided by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The LEGATO project (Legumes for the Agriculture of Tomorrow) was funded by the European Union FP7 under grant agreement No. 613551. Funding Information: The field experiments in this study were made possible by the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science (SITES), in this case, at L?nnstorp Research Station at SLU, Alnarp. We also thank the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped to improve the paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
- id
- d8305f1f-f8f9-4453-9203-33fcba792139
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-02 14:40:58
- date last changed
- 2023-10-03 17:58:26
@article{d8305f1f-f8f9-4453-9203-33fcba792139,
abstract = {{<p>Diversifying cropping systems by increasing the number of cash and cover crops in crop rotation plays an important role in improving resource use efficiency and in promoting synergy between ecosystem processes. The objective of this study was to understand how the combination of crop diversification practices influences the performance of arable crop sequences in terms of crop grain yield, crop and weed biomass, and nitrogen acquisition in a temperate climate. Two field experiments were carried out. The first was a 3-year crop sequence with cereal or grain legume as the first crops, with and without undersown forage legumes and forage legume-grass crops, followed by a cereal crop. The second experiment was a 2-year crop sequence with cereal or legume as the first crops, a legume cover crop, and a subsequent cereal crop. For the first time, crop diversification practices were combined to identify plant-plant interactions in spatial and temporal scales. The results partly confirm the positive effect of diversifying cereal-based cropping systems by including grain legumes and cover crops in the crop sequence. Legume cover crops had a positive effect on subsequent cereal grain yield in one of the experiments. Using faba beans as the first crop in the crop sequence had both a positive and no effect on crop biomass and N acquisition of the subsequent cereal. In cover crops composed of a forage legume-grass mixture, the grass biomass and N acquisition were consistently increased after the grain legume, compared to the cereal-preceding crop. However, differences in the proportion of legume to grass in mixture did not influence crop yield or N acquisition in the subsequent cereal. In conclusion, these results support that increased crop diversity across spatial and temporal scales can contribute to resource-efficient production and enhance the delivery of services, contributing to more sustainable cropping systems.</p>}},
author = {{Rodriguez, Carolina and Mårtensson, Linda Maria Dimitrova and Jensen, Erik Steen and Carlsson, Georg}},
issn = {{1774-0746}},
keywords = {{Cover crops; Crop sequence; Forage legumes; Grain legumes; Intercropping; Plant mixtures}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Agronomy for Sustainable Development}},
title = {{Combining crop diversification practices can benefit cereal production in temperate climates}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13593-021-00703-1}},
doi = {{10.1007/s13593-021-00703-1}},
volume = {{41}},
year = {{2021}},
}