Over winter cover crops provide yield benefits for spring barley and maintain soil health in northern Europe

Holland, Jonathan; Brown, Jennifer; MacKenzie, Katrin; Neilson, Roy; Piras, Simone; McKenzie, Blair M.

doi:10.1016/j.eja.2021.126363

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Nevertheless, farmers typically have little ability to accept economic risks, such as price instability and natural disasters. Stable economic benefits should be ensured by government subsidies and commercial insurance (Cherr et al., 2006; Holland et al., 2021); thus, it was attractive for farmers to adopt this green manure cultivation system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by green manure increases succeeding maize yield and annual economic benefit in low‐yield cropland in the Yellow River Delta

Dong,

Gai,

Shi

et al. 2024

Soil Use and Management

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Green manures (GM) combined with fertilizer reduction is an efficient measure to alleviate the environmental issues caused by the overapplication of chemical fertilizer. However, both the environmental and economic benefits remain unclear in coastal regions that are affected by both soil salinization and climate change. A field experiment was conducted in low‐yield cropland in the Yellow River Delta to explore the effects of green manure rotation combined with fertilizer reduction on the soil environment and economic sustainability. Two GM species, Vicia villosa (HV) and Orychophragmus violaceus (OV), a traditional winter wheat (Wheat), were grown in winter, with a fallow control (Fallow). In the subsequent maize season, three fertilizer rate treatments, a full rate of 600 kg ha−1 compound fertilizer (F100), 85% of the full rate (F85), and 70% of the full rate (F70), were applied in each former treatment. The results indicated that GM return markedly increased soil total N (TN) and P (TP) before the V6 stage of maize (when maize had 6 leaves). The average TN contents of HV and OV increased by 56.9% and 38.5%, respectively, compared with that of Wheat, while the values for TP were 13.6% and 16.9%. Compared with Fallow, the maize yields of HV and OV increased by 25.6% and 13.8%, respectively, while that of Wheat decreased by 9.1%. The average partial fertilizer productivities (PFPs) for HV and OV increased by 25.3% and 14.0% compared with Fallow, while Wheat decreased by 8.9%. The PFPs for F85 and F70 increased by 19.4% and 37.7%, respectively, compared with F100. Reducing the fertilizer rate to 70% in the HV–maize rotation pattern did not reduce but increased the total net profit and rate of return. Thus, HV–maize rotation combined with 30% fertilizer reduction is suggested for sustainable agriculture in this region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by green manure increases succeeding maize yield and annual economic benefit in low‐yield cropland in the Yellow River Delta

Dong,

Gai,

Shi

et al. 2024

Soil Use and Management

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“…In the short term, year‐to‐year variability in soil properties because of variable weather conditions can be greater than CC effect (Holland et al., 2021). Roarty et al.…”

Section: Factors That May Influence Cover Crop Effects On Earthworm P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the short term, year-to-year variability in soil properties because of variable weather conditions can be greater than CC effect (Holland et al, 2021). Roarty et al (2017) discussed at least 2 yr are needed to detect any effects of CCs on earthworm population in temperate regions.…”

Section: Time After Cover Crop Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cover crops and soil ecosystem engineers

Blanco‐Canqui

2022

Agronomy Journal

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Earthworms are key to the engineering of soil ecosystem services. However, how cover crops (CCs) influence these ecosystem engineers has not been widely discussed. This paper reviews (a) CC effects on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity, and related soil ecosystems services and (b) factors affecting CC effects on earthworms. A review of existing literature (through 29 May 2022) found 22 CC studies on earthworm abundance and 10 on earthworm biomass, but studies on earthworm diversity were few. Cover crops increased earthworm abundance in 13 of 22 studies, increased biomass in five of 10 and had no effect in the rest of studies compared with no CCs. The change (Δ increase) was 11 to 535 earthworms m -2 and 11 to 44 g of earthworm biomass m -2 . Cover crop effects on earthworm diversity are mixed. Earthworm abundance was more responsive to CCs than soil C and physical properties, suggesting earthworm abundance should be included as a sensitive measurement in soil health status. Cover crops with low C/N under no-till or reduced-till systems promote earthworm abundance relative to CCs with high C/N under conventionally tilled systems. Cover crop mixtures do not increase earthworm abundance more than monocultures. Earthworm abundance generally increases with increasing precipitation (r = 0.45; p = .025) and temperature (r = 0.36; p = .10).Overall, CCs increase earthworm abundance but have mixed effects on earthworm biomass and diversity, although more data from different CC management scenarios and climates are needed for more robust conclusions. INTRODUCTIONMaintaining or improving the health and ecosystem services of soils under a growing world population and declining environmental quality is essential. Halting soil degradation, restoring degraded soils, and developing resilient and healthy soils are priorities for the continued delivery of essential ecosystem services from soils. Such services include climate regulation, C sequestration, nutrient cycling, and improvement in water quality, soil biodiversity, and wildlife habitat, among others (Adhikari & Hartemink, 2016; Abbreviations: CC, cover crop.

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“…Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is used as cattle feed and for malting but grain barley production remains insufficient to meet the demand in the province of Quebec (Canada) [1]. Even with the use of high-performance cultivars and improved crop management over the last decades, grain barley yields remain lower than in western Europe [2,3]. Average annual barley grain yields in Canada were 2.0 Mg DM ha −1 between 1960 and 1989, and 2.7 Mg DM ha −1 between 1990 and 2021 [4] compared to about 4.4 Mg DM ha −1 for western Europe [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

STICS Soil–Crop Model Performance for Predicting Biomass and Nitrogen Status of Spring Barley Cropped for 31 Years in a Gleysolic Soil from Northeastern Quebec (Canada)

Ravelojaona,

Jégo,

Ziadi

et al. 2023

Agronomy

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Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an increasingly important cash crop in the province of Quebec (Canada). Soil–crop models are powerful tools for analyzing and supporting sustainable crop production. STICS model has not yet been tested for spring barley grown over several decades. This study was conducted to calibrate and evaluate the STICS model, without annual reinitialization, for predicting aboveground biomass and N nutrition attributes at harvest during 31 years of successive cropping of spring barley grown in soil (silty clay, Humic Gleysol) from the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region (northeastern Quebec, Canada). There is a good agreement between observed and predicted variables during the 31 successive barley cropping years. STICS predicted well biomass accumulation and plant N content with a low relative bias (|normalized mean error| = 0–13%) and small prediction error (normalized root mean square error = 6–25%). Overall, the STICS outputs reproduced the same trends as the field-observed data with various tillage systems and N sources. Predictions of crop attributes were more accurate in years with rainfall close to the long-term average. These ‘newly calibrated’ parameters in STICS for spring barley cropped under continental cold and humid climates require validation using independent observation datasets from other sites.

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Over winter cover crops provide yield benefits for spring barley and maintain soil health in northern Europe

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by green manure increases succeeding maize yield and annual economic benefit in low‐yield cropland in the Yellow River Delta

Partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by green manure increases succeeding maize yield and annual economic benefit in low‐yield cropland in the Yellow River Delta

Cover crops and soil ecosystem engineers

STICS Soil–Crop Model Performance for Predicting Biomass and Nitrogen Status of Spring Barley Cropped for 31 Years in a Gleysolic Soil from Northeastern Quebec (Canada)

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