Management practices for black lentil green manure for the semi-arid Canadian prairies

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
Lens Culinaris ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Manure Management ◽  
Green Manure Crop ◽  
Green Manuring

Previous research with lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) green manure in the semiarid prairies of western Canada has indicated that water use by the green manure crop often reduces grain yield of the succeeding cereal crop compared to those obtained after conventional summerfallow. In this study, we evaluated several green manure management practices that have potential to trap snow and enhance overwinter soil water recharge. These practices included: using herbicides to halt the growth of the green manure crop thus eliminating the need for soil incorporation, planting mustard (Sinapis alba L.) strips after incorporation, and leaving standing strips of non-incorporated lentil. Our results showed that none of the green manure management strategies increased wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield or grain protein concentration compared to wheat grown on conventional summerfallow. Leaving strips of standing lentil during bud stage incorporation provided barriers for wind erosion protection, while not decreasing wheat yield or protein content. Glyphosate or 2,4-D amine applied at bud stage of the lentil, and without soil incorporation, reduced available soil N. However, 2,4-D did not halt plant growth and water use quickly enough to avoid reducing yield of the succeeding wheat crop, while glyphosate generally halted water use more rapidly. The inability of the green manure management strategies to increase wheat yields over that obtained from conventional summerfallow was because the soil rooting zone is typically filled to capacity with water by this latter practice under the prevailing soil and climatic conditions. If green manuring is practised, early incorporation with lentil leave strips is the most promising management system. However, even with improved water management practices, green manuring did not demonstrate a consistent advantage over summerfallow, which may be required to offset the added economic costs required to enact this practice. Key words: Lens culinaris, legumes, summerfallow, soil nitrogen, soil water, wheat

Water use efficiency and water and nitrate distribution in soil in the semiarid prairie: Effect of crop type over 21 years

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Campbell ◽  
R. P. Zentner ◽  
P. Basnyat ◽  
H. Wang ◽  
F. Selles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Available Water ◽  
Crop Type ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Summer Fallow

In the semiarid prairie, available water is the most limiting and nitrogen the second most limiting factor influencing crop production. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the effect of management practices on water use efficiency (WUE), most have concentrated on monoculture wheat, the major crop grown in the region. Even those studies dealing with other crop types have mostly been short-term in nature. But precipitation is so variable in amount and distribution that such an assessment is best conducted in long-term experiments. We used the results of a 21-yr experiment, conducted in the Brown soil zone at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, to determine the influence of crop type on WUE, and used the distribution of water and NO3-N in the soil, and N uptake by the crop to assist in interpreting these results. Four crop rotations were compared: summer fallow-wheat-wheat (F-W-W), F-flax-W (F-Flx-W), continuous wheat (Cont W) and wheat-lentil (W-Lent). All received N and P fertilizer based on soil test. In the following presentation, the rotation phase shown in parentheses was the phase referred to. We used water and NO3-N measured in consecutive 0.3-m depth segments to 1.2 m in the soil, taken just prior to seeding and after harvest, and precipitation, to make this assessment. About 10 mm more water was conserved in the F-W-W rotation than in the F-Flx-W system during the 21-mo summer fallow period, and most of this difference in water was located in the 0.3- to 0.9-m depth. Soil water in the profile was 14 mm greater following flax harvest than following wheat harvest (mostly located in 0.6- to 1.2-m depth), because flax produces less biomass and has shorter roots than wheat. At harvest, wheat dried the soil to near the wilting point (154 mm), but flax and lentil left about 10 mm of available water in the profile (mostly in the 0.6- to 1.2-m depth), suggesting shallower rooting depths. Over the 9-mo winter period about 58 mm of water was stored in the soil after wheat and 41 mm after flax. Wheat stubble conserved more overwinter water than flax stubble because of its taller height. Lentil, with its much shorter stubble, conserved about 7 mm less water than wheat during winter. Because flax produces much less biomass and withdraws less N from the soil than wheat, it left more NO3-N in the soil (27 kg ha-1 more at seeding and 23 kg ha-1 more at harvest); most of the extra NO3 was in the 0.3- to 1.2-m depth reflecting flax's shallower roots. During the 9-mo overwinter period, 16 kg ha-1 of NO3-N was mineralized following wheat and 33 kg ha-1 following flax. In the spring, Cont W and stubble wheat in F-W-(W) had about 50% as much soil NO3-N as the W-Lent rotation, reflecting the cumulative benefits of N2 fixation by the pulse crop over the years . By harvest, soil NO3-N under (W)-Lent > W-(Lent) > F-Flx-(W) > F-W-(W) > Cont W. The excess NO3-N in the (W)-Lent compared to W-(Lent) was located in the 0- to 0.6-m depth suggesting excessive fertilizer application to the wheat phase of this rotation and implying a need for agronomists to reassess the criteria used for N recommendations for rotations containing pulse crops. Lentil used as much water as wheat even though its biomass was much less. WUE for wheat grown on summer fallow averaged 8.11 kg ha -1 mm-1, and for wheat grown on stubble 6.9 kg ha-1 mm-1. WUE for wheat was also higher when it followed flax than when it followed wheat. The WUE of flax and lentil averaged 50% and 64%, respectively, of wheat following wheat. A more meaningful way of expressing the efficiency of water use is as precipitation required per unit of produce from the complete cropping system (PUE). The PUE increased with cropping intensity on a yield basis (kg ha-1 mm-1): Cont W (4.6) > W-Lent (4.2) > F-W-W (4.1) > F-Flx-W (2.9) (opposite response to WUE). When PUE was calculated on a dollars produced per rotation basis ($ ha-1 mm-1): W-Lent (1.0) was higher than the other three rotations (0.6 to 0.7). Key words: Soil water, soil nitrate, lentil, flax, wheat, crop rotation, precipitation use efficiency

Long-term assessment of management of an annual legume green manure crop for fallow replacement in the Brown soil zone

2004 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Zentner ◽  
C. A. Campbell ◽  
V. O. Biederbeck ◽  
F. Selles ◽  
R. Lemke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
Grain Protein ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Green Manure Crop ◽  
Soil Zone ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Legume Green Manure

In the Brown soil zone of western Canada summerfallowing (F) is traditionally used to reduce the water deficit associated with cereal production, but frequent use of this practice results in soil degradation and reduces the N-supplying capacity of soils. Some scientists suggest that an annual legume green manure crop (LGM) could be used as a partial-fallow replacement to protect the soil against erosion and increase its N fertility, particularly when combined with a snow-trapping technique to replenish soil water used by the legume. We assessed this possibility by comparing yields, N economy, water use efficiency, and economic returns for hard red spring wheat (W) (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in rotation with Indianhead black lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) green manure (i.e., LGM-W-W) vs. that obtained in a traditional F-W-W system. Further, we assessed whether a change in manage ment of the LGM crop (i.e., moving to earlier seeding and earlier turn-down) was advantageous to the overall performance of this practice. The study was conducted over 12 yr (1988–99) on a medium-textured Orthic Brown Chernozem at Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Wheat stubble was left tall to trap snow, tillage was kept to a minimum, and the wheat was fertilized based on NO3 soil tests. When we examined results after 6 yr, we concluded that by waiting until full bloom to turn down the legume (usually late July or early August) so as to maximize N2 fixation, soil water was being depleted to the detriment of yields of the following wheat crop. The change in management of the LGM crop since 1993 resulted in wheat yields following LGM equaling those after fallow (due to improved water use efficiency), a gradual and significant increase over time in grain protein and in N yield of aboveground plant biomass of wheat in the LGM-W-W compared to the F-W-W system, plus a gradual decrease in fertilizer N requirements of wheat in the LGM system accompanying an improvement in the N supplying power of the soil. These savings in N fertilizer, together with savings in tillage and herbicide costs for weed control on partial-fallow vs. conventional-fallow areas, and higher revenues from the enhanced grain protein, more than offset the added costs for seed and management of the LGM crop. Thus, our results imply that, if producers seed the LGM in April and turn it down in early July, an annual LGM-cereal rotation is a viable option in the semiarid Canadian prairies; however, one negative consequence of adopting this management strategy is the possibility of enhancing NO3 leaching. Key words: Nitrogen yields, grain protein, green fallow, summerfallow substitute, economic returns, NO3 leaching

Water use by winter wheat as affected by soil management

1984 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Goss ◽  
K. R. Howse ◽  
Judith M. Vaughan-Williams ◽  
M. A. Ward ◽  
W. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Deficit ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Maximum Depth ◽  
Water Extraction ◽  
Soil Water Deficit ◽  
Potential Yield

SummaryIn each of the years from September 1977 to July 1982 winter wheat was grown on one or more of three clay soil sites (clay content 35–55%) in Oxfordshire where the climate is close to the average for the area of England growing winter cereals.The effects on crop water use of different soil management practices, including ploughing, direct drilling and subsoil drainage, are compared. Cultivation treatment had little effect on the maximum depth of water extraction, which on average in these clay soils was 1·54 m below the soil surface. Maximum soil water deficit was also little affected by cultivation; the maximum recorded value was 186±7·6 mm. Subsoil drainage increased the maximum depth of water extraction by approximately 15 cm and the maximum soil water deficit by about 17 mm.Generally soil management had little effect on either total water use by the crop which was found to be close to the potential evaporation estimated by the method of Penman, or water use efficiency which for these crops was about 52 kg/ha par mm water used.Results are discussed in relation to limitations to potential yield.

EFFECT OF ROTATIONS, TILLAGE TREATMENTS AND FERTILIZERS ON THE AGGREGATION OF A CLAY SOIL

1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. EMMOND
Keyword(s):  
Green Manure ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Clay Soil ◽  
Soil Aggregation ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Green Manure Crop

Soil aggregation was lowest in a fallow-wheat rotation and increased in other fallow-grain rotations with the second, third, and fourth crops after the fallow year. The best aggregation was under continuous wheat. Rotations containing hay crops, particularly those with grass, increased soil aggregation significantly. The influence of tillage treatments on soil aggregation declined with increased depth. Various tillage treatments affected surface soil aggregation, in the following order: green manure crop plowed under > cultivated with trash cover > crop residues plowed under > cultivated with residues burned off = crop residues disced in. Fertilizer (11–48–0) applied to the wheat crop of the various tillage treatments increased soil aggregation except where the crop residues had been removed. The application of barn manure increased soil aggregation.

Using market research to understand the adoption of irrigation management strategies in the stone and pome fruit industry

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kaine ◽  
D. Bewsell ◽  
A. Boland ◽  
C. Linehan
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Market Research ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Pome Fruit ◽  
Managerial Flexibility ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Extension Program

Market research was conducted to develop an extension program targeting the specific irrigation management needs of growers in the stone and pome fruit industry within the Goulburn Valley, Victoria. The process of integrating market research with extension practice proved challenging, as it required the development of an extension program that was fundamentally different from what was originally envisaged. However, it was essential to achieve this integration in order to meet the original objectives for the extension program as set by the funding body. We found, in most cases, that the motivation for stone and pome fruit growers in the Goulburn Valley to change orchard irrigation management practices was not because they needed to save water, or to increase water use efficiency. Instead, growers were changing practices in order to save time irrigating, improve the scope for managerial flexibility in the orchard, or when redeveloping their orchard to a closer planting design. These findings suggest that growers in the Goulburn Valley are more likely to respond to an extension program consistent with these motivations rather than a program promoting water use efficiency.

Soil water regimes of rotationally grazed perennial and annual forages

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Twerdoff ◽  
D. S. Chanasyk ◽  
M. A. Naeth ◽  
V. S. Baron ◽  
E. Mapfumo
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Grazing Intensities ◽  
Use Efficiency

To maintain a sustainable agricultural system, management practices such as grazing must ensure adequate soil water for plant growth, yet minimize the risk of soil erosion. The objective of this study was to characterize the soil water regime of perennial and annual forages under three grazing intensities (heavy, medium and light). The study was conducted at the Lacombe Research Station, Alberta, on an Orthic Black Chernozem of loam to silt loam texture. The forages used were smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis L. 'Carlton'), meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius L. 'Paddock'), a mixture of triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack 'Pika') and barley (Hordeum vulgare L. 'AC Lacombe') and triticale. Soil water measurements were conducted between April and October of 1994 and 1995 using a neutron scattering hydroprobe to a depth of 90 cm. Surface (0–7.5 cm) soil water was more responsive to grazing intensity than soil water accumulated to various depths. For all grazing treatments and forages, both surface soil water and accumulated soil water generally fluctuated between field capacity and wilting point during the growing season. Although plant water status was not determined, no visual permanent wilting of forages was observed during the study. Differences in evapotranspiration (ET), as determined by differences in soil water were evident among forage species but not grazing intensities, with perennials having high ET in spring and annuals having high ET in summer. Estimated values of water-use efficiency (WUE) were greater for perennials than for annuals and grazing effects on WUE were minimal. From a management perspective, grazing of annuals and perennials altered soil water dynamics but still maintained adequate soil water for plant growth. Key words: Evapotranspiration, forages, grazing intensity, water-use efficiency

scholarly journals Tillage, Green Manure And Residue Retention Improve Aggregate-Associated Phosphorus Fractions Under Rice-Wheat Cropping

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Sharma ◽  
Sukhjinder Kaur ◽  
Om Parkash Choudhary
Keyword(s):  
Wheat Straw ◽  
Rice Straw ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Nutrient Use Efficiency ◽  
Phosphorus Fractions ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Western India

Abstract The sustainability of rice-wheat system (RWS) in north-western India is threatened due to the deterioration of soil health and emergence of new challenges of climate change caused by low nutrient use efficiency and large scale burning of crop residues. Phosphorus and phosphatase activities in the soil aggregates affected by different residue management practices remain poorly understood. Thus, soil samples were obtained after a five year field experiment to identify the effect of tillage, green manure and residue management on aggregate-associated phosphorus fractions. In rice, the main plot treatments were combinations of wheat straw and Sesbania green manure (GM) management: (1) puddled transplanted rice (PTR) with no wheat straw (PTRW0), (2) PTR with 25% wheat stubbles (12-15 cm long) retained (PTRW25), (3) PTR without wheat straw and GM (PTRW0+GM), and (4) PTR with wheat stubbles (25%) and GM (PTRW25+GM). Three sub-plots treatments in the successive wheat crop were (1) conventional tillage with rice straw removed (CTWR0), (2) zero tillage (ZT) with rice straw removed (ZTWR0) and (3) ZT with 100% rice straw retained as surface mulch (ZTWR100). Results of the present study revealed that all phosphorus fractions were significantly higher in PTRW25+GM followed by ZTWR100 compared with PTRW0/CTWR0 treatment within both macro- and micro-aggregates. The total phosphorus (P), available P, alkaline phosphatase and phytin-P were significantly higher under ZTWR100 than CTWR0. Principal component analysis identified NaOH-Po, NaHCO3-Pi and HCl-P as the dominant and reliable indicators for evaluating P transformation within aggregates under conservation agriculture based practices.

scholarly journals Validation of Nursery and Greenhouse Best Management Practices through Scientific Evidence

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 700-715
Author(s):  
Rachel Mack ◽  
James S. Owen ◽  
Alex X. Niemiera ◽  
David J. Sample
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Best Management ◽  
Greenhouse Growers

Nursery and greenhouse growers use a variety of practices known as best management practices (BMPs) to reduce sediment, nutrient, and water losses from production beds and to improve efficiency. Although these BMPs are almost universally recommended in guidance manuals, or required by regulation in limited instances, little information is available that links specific BMPs to the scientific literature that supports their use and quantifies their effectiveness. A previous survey identified the most widely used water management, runoff, and fertilizer-related BMPs by Virginia nursery and greenhouse operators. Applicable literature was reviewed herein and assessed for factors that influence the efficacy of selected BMPs and metrics of BMP effectiveness, such as reduced water use and fertilizers to reduce sediment, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) loads in runoff. BMPs investigated included vegetative zones (VZs), irrigation management strategies, and controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs). Use of vegetative buffers decreased average runoff N 41%, P 67%, and total suspended solids 91%. Nitrogen, P, and sediment removal efficacy increased with vegetative buffer width. Changes in production practices increased water application efficiency >20% and decreased leachate or runoff volume >40%, reducing average N and P loss by 28% and 14%, respectively. By linking BMPs to scientific articles and reports, individual BMPs can be validated and are thus legitimized from the perspective of growers and environmental regulators. With current and impending water use and runoff regulations, validating the use and performance of these BMPs could lead to increased adoption, helping growers to receive credit for actions that have been or will be taken, thus minimizing water use, nutrient loss, and potential pollution from nursery and greenhouse production sites.

Effect of shelter on the yield and water use of wheat

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. K. Nuberg ◽  
S. J. Mylius
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Head Weight

Wheat was grown in the field and lysimeters under 3 experimental regimes — full exposure to wind, full shelter within an enclosure, and partial shelter behind an artificial windbreak — to test the hypothesis that a crop in a sheltered environment will be more conservative in its water use and more efficient in using that water to grow biomass. The fully sheltered wheat crop in the field produced 11% more above-ground biomass than the exposed crop and most of this difference was attributed to leaf (20%) and stem (21%) material. However, the sheltered crop had lower 1000-grain weights (35.6 g cf. 40.1 g) and higher protein (14.3% cf. 11.5%). No significant difference between sheltered and exposed yields could be confidently detected.Plants grown under non-water limiting conditions of lysimeters produced 14% more biomass under shelter and were also likely to be more efficient (7%, P = 0.06) in their use of water to produce that biomass than wind-exposed plants. Shelter did not change the total soil water use of the lysimeter- or field-grown wheat. However, the sheltered field crop was more conservative than the exposed crop in its use of soil water up to anthesis and less conservative during grain filling. In the partial shelter regime wheat was grown in the ground and in lysimeters at distances of 3�H (i.e. 3 × windbreak height), 6 H, 12 H, 15 H, 18 H and 24 H from an artificial windbreak. Significant relationships with distance from this windbreak were only observed in total biomass, stem weight and head weight of field-grown wheat at anthesis. In summary, the sheltered wheat was more efficient in production of biomass and did conserve water early in the growing season but the conserved soil water was expended to maintain that biomass at the expense of grain size.

Grain yield of wheat in rotation with pea, vetch or medic grown with three systems of management

1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
JH Silsbury
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Protein Content ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Grain Protein Content ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Grain Protein ◽  
Green Manure Crop ◽  
Legume Crop

Pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Alma), vetch (Vicia sativa L. cv. Languedoc) and annual medic (Medicago truncatula Gaertn. cv. Paraggio) were grown at Brinkworth, South Australia, in 1987 in large (0.75 ha) plots and subjected to 3 systems of management: (i) ploughing in at flowering as a green manure crop, (ii) harvesting for grain and ploughing in the dry residues, and (iii) harvesting for grain and removing the residues. A wheat crop was sown over the whole area in the following season (1988) and the effects of type of legume and management on grain yield and grain protein content were measured. The management system imposed on the legume had a highly significant (P<0.01) effect on the grain yield of the following wheat crop, but there were no significant differences between the 3 legumes in their effects on wheat yield or on grain protein content. Ploughing in the legumes as a green manure crop at flowering added about 100 kg/ha more nitrogen (N) to the soil than allowing the legumes to mature, harvesting for seed, and removing residues. Incorporating the dry residues rather than removing them added about 26 kg N/ha. The green manure crop significantly increased subsequent wheat yield (by 49%; P<0.001) and protein content of the grain (by 13%; P<0.05) compared with the treatment in which the legumes were harvested for grain and all residues removed; incorporating the dry residues increased yield by 10%. It is concluded that the amount of N added during the legume phase in a rotation is more important than the kind of legume from which the N is derived. The occasional use of a dense legume crop as a green manure may rapidly add a large amount of N to a soil to be slowly exploited by following grain crops.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document