Participatory design of improved forage/fallow options across soil gradients with farmers of the Central Peruvian Andes
| Autor: | Edgar Olivera, Steven J. Vanek, Raul Ccanto, Steven J. Fonte, Maria Scurrah, Katherin Meza |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Biomass (ecology) Ecology biology Vicia sativa Forage 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences Lolium multiflorum biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Red Clover Agronomy Soil pH 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Animal Science and Zoology Revegetation Soil fertility Agronomy and Crop Science |
| Zdroj: | Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 300:106933 |
| ISSN: | 0167-8809 |
| Popis: | Land use intensity is increasing in Andean smallholder systems, and innovations are needed to sustain soil fertility and productivity of potato-cereal rotations with shortening fallow periods. In collaboration with farmers in central Peru, we assessed forage-based fallows in 58 fields across three production zones over three years. Fallow treatments selected with farmers tested grass-legume mixtures with different combinations of Vicia Sativa (vetch), Avena sativa (oats), Lupinus mutabilis (Andean lupine), Trifolium pratense (red clover), Medicago sativa (alfalfa), and Lolium multiflorum (ryegrass) compared to an unseeded control fallow with natural revegetation. The ability of fallows to quickly cover soil was tested, as was their biomass production in years one and three. Following the incorporation of fallow vegetation in a sub-set of nine fields, we also tested fallows’ effects on soil pH, available phosphorus (P), permanganate-oxidizable carbon (POXC) and potato yield. In year one managed fallows produced from 1.9 to 5.4 Mg ha−1 of forage biomass compared to 0.5 to 1.1 Mg ha−1 in unseeded controls. Managed fallows also exceeded controls in nutrient uptake, soil cover, and forage quality (lower lignin and higher protein content). First-year biomass of vetch and Andean lupine responded differently to soil pH in fields, indicating that appropriate fallow options likely depend on soil context. After three years, total biomass did not differ among treatments. However, legumes had greater biomass in treatments employing perennial species (0.79–1.18 Mg ha−1 of legumes) than in controls (0.15 Mg ha−1). Potato yield and soil fertility was not reduced in managed fallows compared to the control, and an alfalfa + liming treatment yielded higher than the control (p |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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