This article is taken entirely from No-till.ru and will be of great interest to farmers who are thinking about how to fertilize their land, how to increase productivity and maintain soil capital in the long run. So enjoy:
Cover crops - the demand of the period
Elena Dudkina
agronomist-technologist LLC "Agro-Soyuz Projects"
Farmers seek profit and surplus, sometimes forgetting that the soil is too dry. The amount of organic matter in the soil decreases. Due to intensive mechanical treatment, the mineralization processes in the soil proceed faster and thereby release nutrient compounds, which are then carried out from the soil. Due to the poor development of animal husbandry in our country, organic fertilizers are not used in practice.
Our company Agro-Soyuz Projects specializes in finding new products in the field of agriculture and adapting them to domestic conditions. Thus, the topic of cover crops does not interest us. And that’s not because it has become a fashion trend. No. On the contrary, it is a requirement of the period. When businesses are forced to grow intensive types of crops, the intensification of crop rotation and, unfortunately, not always adhering to crop rotation leads to a decrease in soil fertility. Increased investment in fertilizers is required.
This problem can be successfully solved by introducing crop rotation or siderates - crops and their mixtures - not for commercial gain, but to improve soil condition, which leads to soil improvement. Yield of the same commodity (commercial) crops in crop rotation.
In the U.S. and Canada, Brazil and Argentina, cover crops have been used for a long time and successfully. In addition, a couple of years ago, there was talk of planting only one type of crop as green manure. Now farmers have come to the conclusion that they should plant plant mixtures called cocktails. Cover crop cocktails are more resistant to adverse environmental factors, especially if the crops belong to different families. The cocktail retains moisture better in the soil. The number of cultures in the cocktail is unlimited. They can contain 2-3 or even 30-40 plant species.
The composition of the cocktail is selected depending on the needs of each specific industry and subsequent culture.
Functions of cover crops (or siderates):
• Loosening of the soil - increased penetration of roots. Taproot cultures successfully penetrate the compacted soil layers and destroy the subsurface layer naturally, naturally.
Crops used for this purpose: radish, turnip, sunflower, radish, mustard.
• Accumulation of organic matter - cereals are used. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in cereals is very high, from 1 (nitrogen) to 40 (carbon). In broad-leaved crops (legumes, sunflowers, buckwheat) this ratio does not exceed 1:10. Thus, it is not possible to accumulate carbon using broad-leaved crops, this can only be done by planting cereals, especially those with plant residues (corn, oats, Sudan) with a long decomposition period.
These are: oats, barley, triticale, rye, oats, corn, millet, oats, wheat and other cereals.
• Accumulation of plant residues - Crops with a long decomposition period of plant residues, i.e. cereals, are planted.
Corn, oats, millet, oats, wheat, barley, rye, triticale and other cereals.
• Nitrogen accumulation in the soil - an increase in the amount of nutrients in the soil due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the root nodes of plants.
All legumes: vetch, lentils, peas, croutons, soy, clover, peas, beans, beans and more.
• release of non-existent nutrients - decomposition of sparingly soluble compounds of phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients in the soil. Subsequent culture receives nutrients not from mineral fertilizers, but from the soil and already in the "ready", ready form.
Buckwheat and all cruciferous plants: mustard, radish (daikon), canola, turnip, radish and others.
• Suppression of weed growth - creation of unfavorable conditions for weed growth due to allelopathy.
Rye, lupine, corn.
• Mycorrhizal transplantation - creating an environment conducive to the growth and development of mycorrhizae (tree fungi that grow in the soil and at the roots of plants). These fungi exchange the nutrients in the soil inside the plant's stem cells for carbon in photosynthesis. The result is an improvement in the diet of plants.
Rye, triticale, vetch, flax, corn and all grains. Cross crops, on the other hand, do not “like” mycorrhiza and do not contribute to its development.
Other advantages of cover crops:
• Protection of soil from soil erosion (water c and wind).
• Provide good conditions for plants to absorb water and nutrients and improve their ability to retain water in the soil layer.
• Protect the soil from overheating.
• Restoration of nutrient circulation.
• Improving soil biology (macro- and microflora and fauna).
• The strong roots of some cover crops act as a “biological plow” and break up the compacted soil layers.
• Strengthening the positive physical properties of the soil (accumulation, infiltration, porosity, permeability, etc. of soil particles, glomalin - a substance secreted by root hairs).
• Rotations using different types of cover crops balance the soil and help reduce problems with pests and diseases.
So, if we want to improve the field condition in one or more of the above parameters, we will add cultures to the cocktail to help solve these problems.
Examples of cocktails.
Planting a cocktail under the corn: softens the soil and saturates it with nutrients:
• Radish daikon Raphanus
• Esparsjet Onobrychis
• Crotalaria Crotalaria
• Triticum is a wheat plant
This mixture provides good nutrition to the following crops due to the presence of legumes and cruciferous crops:
• African method Pennisetum glaucum
• Sudan grass Sorghum sudanense
• Horse beans are Vicia faba. equation
• Vigna Vigna sinensis
• Radish Raphanus Sativus
• Brassica rapa turnip
• Sunflower Helianthus annuus
• Clover Trifolium
• Vicia Vicia sativa
This compound performs the same functions as the previous one, but the components are cheaper:
• Planting Avena sativa oats
• Peas Pisum sativum
• Vicia Vicia sativa
• Oily radish Raphanus sativus
• Rape of brassica napus
• Phacelia Phacelia
Such a set of crops in the cocktail allows the accumulation of organic matter in the soil, increasing the amount of plant residues and the accumulation of nitrogen due to the presence of legumes.
• African method Pennisetum glaucum
• Safflower Carthamus tinctorius
• Vicia faba beans
• Crotalaria Crotalaria juncea
• Pelushka Pisum sativum var. arvense
• Corn oil
According to David Brent, one of the most successful farmers, cover crops are planted for a variety of tasks: loosening the soil, retaining moisture, and conversely, reducing it if it is in excess. American farmers who use green manure refuse to use mineral fertilizers or significantly reduce their use.
Cover crops are the presence of live roots in the soil if the main crop has already been harvested and the next crop has not yet been planted. Soil needs cover. And a living covering is always better than a dead one. Plants consume CO2 and place it in the soil through the roots.
For example, Rick Bieber, an American farmer from South Dakota, successfully uses green manure for crop rotation. When it is in the 6-leaf stage, it sows green manure for planting corn, so when the corn is harvested, the siderates are already well developed and cover the soil. Within three years of using the cover crops, Rick noted, the yield of commercial crops began to be noticeable (increased by a quarter).
He believes that planting cover crops in a cocktail should always be done, regardless of the presence of moisture.
“When it rains and the cocktails are sown, you achieve your goal! But if it rains and the cocktail isn’t planted, you certainly won’t achieve your goal. Plus, you lose! ”- Rick amin.
Jay Fuhrer and David Bauer managed to increase the amount of organic matter in their soils by 1% using soil conservation technologies and cover crops for 15 years, while still getting high yields from commercial crops! They are versatile crop rotation and cover crops to ensure that different microorganisms are created in the soil. The more diverse the crops, the greater the species composition of the microbiota in the soil. And the more microorganisms in the soil, the better its condition.
Jay and David started using cover crops in a small field of just 100 acres. They concluded that planting a cover crop cocktail should be behind the combine, without even allowing a few hours of delay. This strategy allows the moisture in the wheat stalk to be retained even in the hot season and ensures that the sown seeds germinate. The mixture should contain grains and broad-leaved crops in hot and cold periods. Plus, they’re sure not to get rid of the corpse, which will be another ingredient in this green manure cocktail!
According to Rob Myers, regional director of the University of Missouri (USA) Expansion Program, farmers are accelerating their farmland. lan expands. From 2008 to 2012, the total area under indoor crops increased by 350%. Farmers saw improved soil health as a key benefit of growing cover crops. They also noted a decrease in soil compaction, improved nutrient management, and reduced erosion.
One farmer who participated in this study said, “It is part of a systematic approach that helps create indoor crops.
creating healthy soil, high yields ”.
The issue of crop rotation is of great interest to us and other agricultural producers. At Agro-Soyuz, we started planting radishes and rye as siderates. Now that we understand the processes that take place in the soil and have the knowledge and experience, we have moved on to planting cocktails consisting of several crops. We, the technologists of Agro-Soyuz Projects, receive information from our colleagues from farmers in South and North Dakota (USA) who have been using this technology for decades. Now we ourselves are ready to share this with stakeholders with the results of our work. In addition, our technologists working in various regions of Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan will help us to adapt this technology to the specific conditions of the enterprise.
We will report the results of this large-scale experiment on our website and in future editions.
