Cover Crop as Living Mulch: Effects on Energy Flows in Mediterranean Organic Cropping Systems

Sustainability of agricultural practices is one of the most important issues in organic agriculture and its assessment is crucial. To this aim, evaluating the balance between the energy inputs and outputs in crop rotations could be a valuable tool. Therefore, we compared different management strategies in a four-year organic cropping system, by estimating the energy balance of crop production. Two different living mulches with no-till (B1) and green manure (B2) were compared with a cropping system without cover crop (B3), performing both energy analysis and energy balance. Energy parameters were also evaluated. The energy input of fertilizers and water was more than 55% of the total energy required by the cropping systems, suggesting that these agronomic practices should be tailored by farmers to decrease total energy inputs. The potential energy output was significantly higher in the B1 than the B2 and B3 cropping systems (20% and 54%, respectively). Results indicated that B1 and B2 could enhance the energy outputs without negatively affecting the energy consumption, since these cropping systems also showed higher energy efficiency. The introduction of the cover crop as living mulch combined with no-till could be a powerful tool to enhance systems sustainability, without compromising the crop yields.

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Increasing corn yield with no-till cropping systems: a case study in South Dakota

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s1742170515000435 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 568-573 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Randy L. Anderson

Keyword(s):

South Dakota ◽

Great Plains ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

Crop Diversity ◽

Corn Yield ◽

No Till

AbstractNo-till practices have improved crop yields in the semiarid Great Plains. However, a recent assessment of research studies across the globe indicated that crop yields are often reduced by no-till. To understand this contrast, we examined corn yields across time in a no-till cropping system of one producer in central South Dakota to identify factors associated with increased yield. The producer started no-till in 1990; by 2013, corn yield increased 116%. In comparison, corn increased only 32% during this interval with a conventional, tillage-based system in a neighboring county. With no-till, corn yields increased in increments due to changes in management. For example, corn yield increased 52% when crop diversity in the rotation was expanded from 2 to 5 crops. A further 18% gain in yield occurred when dry pea was grown before corn in sequence. Nitrogen (N) requirement for corn is 25% lower in no-till compared with a tillage-based rotation. Furthermore, phosphorus (P) fertilizer input also has been reduced 30% after 20 yr of no-till, even with higher yields. Our case study shows that integrating no-till with crop diversity and soil microbial changes improves corn yield considerably. This integration also reduces need for inputs such as water, N and P.

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Nitrate Leaching to a Shallow Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Aquifer as Influenced by Conventional No-Till and Low-Input Sustainable Grain Production Systems

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0475 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (3-5) ◽

pp. 691-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. P. Craig ◽

R. R. Weil

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽

Grain Production ◽

Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽

Mineral N ◽

Low Input ◽

No Till

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.

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Agriculture—Things That Are Grown

10.1093/oso/9780198802297.003.0014 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Rez

Keyword(s):

Crop Yields ◽

Animal Feed ◽

Electrical Power ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Embodied Energy ◽

Liquid Fuels ◽

Energy Output ◽

Recycled Paper ◽

Additional Energy ◽

Energy Inputs

Timber has the lowest embodied energy of any of the construction materials. Paper production from trees requires much more energy. There is some energy saving in recycling, as recycled paper substitutes for pulp derived from wood chips. Growing crops for food also requires energy. The energy required for plants to grow comes from the sun, but there are additional energy inputs from fertiliser and farm machinery to speed up the growth process and vastly improve crop yields. If grains are used as animal feed, then the energy inputs are much larger than the dietary energy output—the larger the animal and the longer it is fattened up before slaughter, the more inefficient the process. The use of crops to make fuel for electrical power generation or for processing into liquid fuels is horribly inefficient. The problem is simple—the plants do not grow fast enough!

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No-till, no-herbicide forage soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) cropping system with an Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) living mulch

Grassland Science ◽

10.1111/j.1744-697x.2010.00205.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 28-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Makoto Kaneko ◽

Sunao Uozumi ◽

Eiko Touno ◽

Shin Deguchi

Keyword(s):

Glycine Max ◽

Lolium Multiflorum ◽

Cropping System ◽

Italian Ryegrass ◽

Living Mulch ◽

No Till ◽

Glycine Max L

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Effects of Tillage and Mulch on Weed Biomass and Sweet Corn Yield

Weed Technology ◽

10.1017/s0890037x00027305 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 545-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Charles L. Mohler

Keyword(s):

Experimental Design ◽

Detrimental Effect ◽

Sweet Corn ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Effective Control ◽

Corn Yield ◽

Living Mulch ◽

Weed Biomass ◽

Common Lambsquarters ◽

No Till

Sweet corn was grown with a living mulch of white clover, a dead mulch of rye, and without mulch, in both till and no-till conditions. Unplanted controls were also included in the experimental design. Corn yields were highest in clover treatments early in the experiment but lowest in later years. The declining yields in the clover living mulch were related to the strip application of glyphosate which allowed establishment of perennial and biennial weeds, notably dandelion and horseweed. These overwintering weeds apparently prevented effective control of summer annuals, especially redroot pigweed, common lambsquarters and large crabgrass, by atrazine and metolachlor. Presence of a rye mulch decreased weed biomass and had no detrimental effect on corn yield. In general, corn yield was not affected by tillage, although the number of marketable ears was reduced in the no-till treatments during the drought year of 1988. The much greater weed biomass in the unplanted control treatments showed the importance of crop competition for weed control in sweet corn cropping systems.

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Progress of soybean charcoal rot under tillage and no-tillage systems in Brazil

Fitopatologia Brasileira ◽

10.1590/s0100-41582003000200002 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 131-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Álvaro M. R. Almeida ◽

Lilian Amorim ◽

Armando Bergamin Filho ◽

Eleno Torres ◽

José R. B. Farias ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cropping Systems ◽

Disease Incidence ◽

Cropping System ◽

Macrophomina Phaseolina ◽

Conventional System ◽

Survival Times ◽

Charcoal Rot ◽

No Till ◽

Four Seasons ◽

Conventional Systems

The increase in incidence of charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina on soybeans (Glycine max) was followed four seasons in conventional and no-till cropping systems. In the 1997/98 and 2000/01 seasons, total precipitation between sowing and harvest reached 876.3 and 846.9 mm, respectively. For these seasons, disease incidence did not differ significantly between the no-till and conventional systems. In 1998/99 and 1999/00 precipitation totaled 689.9 and 478.3 mm, respectively. In 1998/99, in the no-till system, the disease incidence was 43.7% and 53.1% in the conventional system. In 1999/00 the final incidence was 68.7% and 81.2% for the no-till and conventional systems, respectively. For these two seasons, precipitation was lower than that required for soybean crops (840 mm), and the averages of disease incidence were significantly higher in the conventional system. The concentration of microsclerotia in soil samples was higher in samples collected in conventional system at 0 - 10 cm depth. However, analysis of microsclerotia in roots showed that in years with adequate rain no difference was detected. In dry years, however, roots from plants developed under the conventional system had significantly more microsclerotia. Because of the wide host range of M. phaseolina and the long survival times of the microsclerotia, crop rotation would probably have little benefit in reducing charcoal rot. Under these study conditions it may be a better alternative to suppress charcoal rot by using the no-till cropping system to conserve soil moisture and reduce disease progress.

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No-tillage sorghum and garbanzo yields match or exceed standard tillage yields

California Agriculture ◽

10.3733/ca.2021a0017 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 112-120

Author(s):

Jeffrey P. Mitchell ◽

Anil Shrestha ◽

Lynn Epstein ◽

Jeffery A. Dahlberg ◽

Teamrat Ghezzehei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Cover Crop ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Soil Surface ◽

San Joaquin Valley ◽

Agricultural Water Use ◽

No Till ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Crop System

To meet the requirements of California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, there is a critical need for crop production strategies with less reliance on irrigation from surface and groundwater sources. One strategy for improving agricultural water use efficiency is reducing tillage and maintaining residues on the soil surface. We evaluated high residue no-till versus standard tillage in the San Joaquin Valley with and without cover crops on the yields of two crops, garbanzo and sorghum, for 4 years. The no-till treatment had no primary or secondary tillage. Sorghum yields were similar in no-till and standard tillage systems while no-till garbanzo yields matched or exceeded those of standard tillage, depending on the year. Cover crops had no effect on crop yields. Soil cover was highest under the no-till with cover crop system, averaging 97% versus 5% for the standard tillage without cover crop system. Our results suggest that garbanzos and sorghum can be grown under no-till practices in the San Joaquin Valley without loss of yield.

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Energy and Greenhouse Gases Balances of Cotton Farming in Iran: A Case Study

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis ◽

10.11118/actaun201866010101 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 101-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Moslem Sami ◽

Habib Reyhani

Keyword(s):

Total Energy ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Energy Output ◽

Consumption Pattern ◽

Cotton Production ◽

Energy Productivity ◽

Energy Inputs ◽

Golestan Province ◽

Ratio Energy

This study evaluated the impacts of cotton farming on the climate changes in terms of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission indices. Energy consumption pattern and sensitivity of energy inputs were evaluated and share of each input in GHG emissions was determined in the form of direct and indirect emissions for cotton farms in Golestan province of Iran. The total energy input and energy output were calculated to be 34,424.19 and 41,496.67 MJ/ha respectively. The share of fertilizers by 45.0 % of total energy inputs was the highest. This was followed by energies of fuel (18.4 %) and irrigation (17.9 %) respectively. Fertilizers and fuels were also the biggest producers of GHGs in the farms with shares of 61.95 and 24.32 % of total GHGs emission. Energy ratio, energy balance, energy intensity and energy productivity were found as 1.21, 7,072.48 MJ/ha, 9.79 MJ/kg and 0.10 kg/MJ, respectively. Results of sensitivity analysis indicated that the cotton production was more sensitive to energies of seed and human labour than other inputs and an additional use of 1 MJ of each of these inputs would lead to a change in the yield by −0.75 and 0.73 kg/ha, respectively. The results also showed, in the process of cotton farming 897.80 and 1177.67 kg CO2 – equivalent of direct and indirect GHG were emitted per hectare respectively.

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Response of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) to varying seeding rates and nitrogen fertilizer rates in a no-till cropping system in Saskatchewan

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.1139/cjps-2017-0313 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 98 (6) ◽

pp. 1331-1341 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W.E. May ◽

M.P. Dawson ◽

C.L. Lyons

Keyword(s):

Plant Density ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Seeding Rate ◽

Yield Increase ◽

No Till ◽

Rate Study ◽

Optimum N Rate ◽

Precision Planting ◽

N Rates

In the past, most sunflower research was conducted in tilled cropping systems and was based on wide row configurations established using precision planters. Little agronomic information is available for the no-till systems predominant in Saskatchewan, where crops are typically seeded in narrow rows using an air drill. Two studies were conducted in Saskatchewan to determine the optimum seeding and nitrogen (N) rates for short-season sunflowers in a no-till cropping system. The N rate study used 5 N rates (10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 kg N ha−1) with the hybrid 63A21. The seeding rate study used 7 seeding rates (37 000, 49 000, 61 000, 74 000, 86 000, 98 000, and 111 000 seeds ha−1) with two cultivars, AC Sierra (open pollinated) and 63A21 (hybrid). There was a linear yield increase as the N rate increased from 10 to 90 kg N ha−1. Based on the N rates tested in this study and current N fertilizer costs below $1 kg−1, sunflower yields and gross returns were most favorable at 90 kg N ha−1. Future N response research with a wider range of N rates is warranted to best determine the optimum N rate. The optimum seeding rate was between 98 000 and 111 000 seeds ha−1 for AC Sierra and between 74 000 and 86 000 seeds ha−1 for 63A21. The optimum plant density, approximately 70 000 to 75 000 plants ha−1, was similar for both cultivars. These results are higher than the current recommended seeding rates for wide-row precision planting systems in areas with a longer growing season.

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