Suitability of legume cover crop-winter wheat intercrops on the semi-arid Canadian Prairies

Farmers on the Canadian prairies are interested in including legume cover crops in their cropping systems to reduce fertilizer inputs and improve farm sustainability. A field study was conducted to determine the merits of establishing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of plant science 2010-07, Vol.90 (4), p.479-488
Main Authors: Blackshaw, Robert E, Molnar, Louis J, Moyer, James R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alfalfa
Brassica napus
canola
cover crops
forage legumes
grain yield
green manures
Medicago sativa
nitrogen
peas
Pisum sativum
plant density
plant growth
planting date
relay cropping
seedling emergence
semiarid zones
soil fertility
soil water content
Trifolium pratense
Triticum aestivum
weed control
winter hardiness
winter wheat
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Farmers on the Canadian prairies are interested in including legume cover crops in their cropping systems to reduce fertilizer inputs and improve farm sustainability. A field study was conducted to determine the merits of establishing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) or Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum L.) cover crops in fall or in spring with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Spring-planted legumes emerged well within the winter wheat crop, but their growth was limited under these semi-arid conditions. Fall-planted red clover had low plant densities following winter in two of three experiments and fall-planted winter pea reduced winter wheat yield by 23 to 37% compared with the no cover crop control. In contrast, fall-planted alfalfa exhibited good winterhardiness, provided some weed suppression without reducing winter wheat yield, caused only a slight reduction in soil water content, and contributed an extra 18 to 20 kg ha -1 of available soil N at the time of seeding the following spring crop. Additionally, fall-planted alfalfa increased the yield of succeeding canola (Brassica napus L.) in unfertilized plots in two of three experiments. Further research is warranted to better understand the agronomic and economic benefits of alfalfa-winter wheat intercrops under a wider range of environmental conditions.Key words: Cover crops, intercropping, relay crops, soil nitrogen, soil conservation
ISSN:0008-4220
1918-1833
DOI:10.4141/CJPS10006