Impact of Legumes as a Pre-Crop on Nitrogen Nutrition and Yield in Organic Greenhouse Tomato

Abstract

An organic greenhouse crop of tomato was established in February following cultivation of cowpea (CP) or common bean (CB) for green pod production, or faba bean (FB) for green manuring. The vegetative residues of CP and CB were incorporated to the soil together with farmyard manure (FYM), prior to establishing the tomato crop. The FB plants were incorporated to the soil at anthesis together with either FYM or composted olive-mill waste (CO). Green manuring with FB resulted in higher soil mineral N levels during the subsequent tomato crop and higher tomato fruit yield when combined with FYM, compared to compost. The level of soil mineral N was the main restrictive factor for yield in organic greenhouse tomato. FB for green manuring as preceding crop to tomato increased significantly the level of soil mineral N and tomato yield compared to CB or CP aiming to produce green pods. The lowest tomato yield was obtained when the preceding crop was CB cultivated for green pod production. The soil mineral N was significantly higher when FYM was applied as base dressing compared with CO, despite the higher total N concentration in CO, pointing to slower mineralization rates of CO during tomato cultivation.

Fresh Pod Yield, Physical and Nutritional Quality Attributes of Common Bean as Influenced by Conventional or Organic Farming Practices

“…Similar yield responses of common beans to sub-optimal soil N availability have also been reported by Chekanai et al [ 35 ], Elkhabit [ 36 ], Karasu et al [ 37 ], and Silva et al [ 38 ], who cultivated crops for either green pods, or dry seeds. The beneficial effect of GM application for organically grown common yield seen here, is in accordance with the study of Gatsios et al [ 12 ], who also found that the incorporation of animal manure and GM, including faba beans, enhanced the yield of a subsequent tomato crop. Contrary to the above findings, in the study of Kontopoulou et al [ 3 ] GM application did not mitigate the fresh pod yield gap between organic and conventional common beans.…”

“…Seeking solutions with the aim to achieve healthier products through eco-friendly production systems, organic cultivation practices can be considered as a solution since inorganic N and synthetic agrochemicals are avoided. According to Gatsios et al [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], N supply in organic agriculture mainly relies on green and animal manures, composts, crop rotation with legumes, and utilisation of intercropping approaches. The introduction of the above-mentioned renewable N sources into agricultural production systems can also reduce contamination of water resources with nitrates [ 14 ] and increase the diversity of soil microbiota [ 15 ], thereby fostering soil nutrient availability, productivity, and health [ 16 ].…”

Potential of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) for Dual-purpose Vegetable Production and Cover Cropping

“…Here, the authors emphasized the benefits of combining superior genetic material with strong agronomic practices to increase crop yield and quality while also contributing to the improvement of soil and environmental health. In the spirit of this concept, Gatsios et al (2021) observed tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) yields after cultivation of cowpea, cultivation of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and green manuring of faba bean. The authors found that the highest tomato yields (largely driven by the number of fruit per plant) were achieved when following green manure faba bean (15.8 kg•m À2 ) then by harvested cowpea (14.5 kg•m À2 ) and harvested common bean (11.4 kg•m À2 ).…”

Legume-Based Mobile Green Manure Can Increase Soil Nitrogen Availability and Yield of Organic Greenhouse Tomatoes

“…The contribution of legume green manure to N fertilization in organic farming through the biological N fixation (BNF) process has been well documented [10][11][12]. Specialized experiments that were carried out in both open fields [13][14][15] and greenhouses [16][17][18] have demonstrated that the incorporation of legume biomass into the soil can provide substantial amounts of plant available N for the following organic tomato crop. However, the cultivation and incorporation of green manure into organic greenhouses considerably reduces the available time for fruit production in the yearly cycle.…”