Contribution of relay intercropping with legume cover crops on nitrogen dynamics in organic grain systems |
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Authors: | Camille Amossé Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy Bruno Mary Christophe David |
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Affiliation: | 1. UP SCAB, ISARA-Lyon, 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364, Lyon 07, France 2. UMR211 Agronomie, INRA, BP01, 78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France 3. UMR211 Agronomie, AgroParisTech, BP01, 78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France 4. US 1158 Agro-Impact, P?le du Griffon, INRA, 180 rue Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, 02000, Barenton-Bugny, France
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Abstract: | Nitrogen (N) management is a key issue in livestock-free organic grain systems. Relay intercropping with a legume cover crop can be a useful technique for improving N availability when two cash crops are grown successively. We evaluated the benefits of four relay intercropped legumes (Medicago lupulina, Medicago sativa, Trifolium pratense and Trifolium repens) on N dynamics and their contribution to the associated and subsequent cash crops in six fields of organic farms located in South-East France. None of the relay intercropped legumes affected the N uptake of the associated winter wheat but all significantly increased the N uptake of the succeeding spring crop, either maize or spring wheat. The improvement of the N nutrition of the subsequent maize crop induced a 30 % increase in grain yield. All relay intercropped legumes enriched the soil–plant system in N through symbiotic fixation. From 71 to 96 % of the N contained in the shoots of the legumes in late autumn was derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa) and varied between 38 and 67 kg Ndfa ha?1. Even if the cover crop is expected to limit N leaching during wintertime, the presence of relay intercropped legumes had no significant effect on N leaching during winter compared to the control. |
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