Precrop Functional Group Identity Affects Yield of Winter Barley but Less so High Carbon Amendments in a Mesocosm Experiment.

ABSTRACT: Nitrate leaching is a pressing environmental problem in intensive agriculture. Especially after the crop harvest, leaching risk is greatest due to decomposing plant residues, and low plant nutrient uptake and evapotranspiration. The specific crop also matters: grain legumes and canola commonly result in more leftover N than the following winter crop can take up before spring. Addition of a high carbon amendment (HCA) could potentially immobilize N after harvest. We set up a 2-year mesocosm experiment to test the effects of N fertilization (40 or 160 kg N/ha), HCA addition (no HCA, wheat straw, or sawdust), and precrop plant functional group identity on winter barley yield and soil C/N ratio. Four spring precrops were sown before winter barley (white lupine, faba bean, spring canola, spring

SUBMITTER: van Duijnen R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6037990 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature