THE USE OF WINTER CROPS TO REDUCE NITROGEN LEACHING
| Autor: | Emmanuel Genio, Larry L. Bauer, Greg D. Hoyt, D.C. Sanders, Gary J. Wells, Dean Batal, Contact G. Wells, Tom Garrett |
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| Rok vydání: | 1996 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | HortScience. 31:749c-749 |
| ISSN: | 2327-9834 0018-5345 |
| DOI: | 10.21273/hortsci.31.5.749c |
| Popis: | The cost-effectiveness of using winter cover crops to reduce nitrogen leaching was estimated. Costs were based on cucumber and sweetpotato grown in rotation, three fertilizer application levels (0, 60, and 120 kg N/ha), and three winter covers (weeds/bare, wheat, and clover). Soil N was measured in 15-cm intervals to a depth of 90 cm at the 1993 harvest and 1994 planting. The cover crop biomass was also analyzed. Nitrogen trapping by wheat and clover was compared to bare ground with adjustment for N fixing by clover. Four scenarios—sweetpotato/both covers/high N and cucumber/wheat cover/low and medium N—yielded increased leaching compared to their bare ground counterparts. Leaching prevented from the other scenarios ranged from 1.07 to 20.11 kg·ha–1. Costs, yields, and vegetable prices were used to calculate profit changes from the bare ground method on a dollar/kg basis. Profit changes ranged from negative $2372.74/kg for cucumber/wheat cover/high fertilizer to the only positive change of $16.53 for sweetpotato/clover/medium fertilizer. Negative costs resulted from yield increases when nonwinter weed covers were used. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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