Soil sustainability changes in organic crop rotations with diverse crop species and the share of legumes

Abstract

There have been few long-term field studies on greenhouse gases measurement in organic crop rotations under temperate climatic conditions. Little is known about the extent to which the share of legumes in a crop rotation of organic farming affects the potentials for CO 2 emission and soil organic carbon sequestration. The current study was aimed to investigate soil physicochemical state and soil net CO 2 exchange rate in diverse organic crop rotations with different crop species and proportions of legumes. Four 5-year duration crop rotations were investigated. The best soil sustainability of the arable layer was found in a crop rotation enriched with red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). This rotation resulted in the highest soil mesoporosity and the lowest microporosity, ensured the best supply of plant-available water and revealed high soil resistance to dry conditions. Red clover secured the highest soil organic C sequestration, caused the increase in reserves of total N and available K, and slackened the decrease of soil-available P sources. Red clover-based cropping system exhibited the highest soil net CO 2 exchange rate during five experimental years. The effect of crop rotation, consisting of phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.), peas (Pisum sativum L.) and yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.), on soil sustainability was weaker than the effect of rotation with red clover. Non-legume rotations, i.e. binary (two-crop) rotation and the crop rotation involving four spring and one winter species, can be regarded as miners of soil nutrient resources rather than contributors. These rotations did not promote soil sustainability because the soil lost large amounts of macronutrients and caused 26-33% lower soil net CO 2 exchange rate, compared with leguminous rotations. For future, it could be recommended for ecological farming to rely more on crop rotations with red clover to improve ecosystems functioning.

Benefits of Organic Agriculture under the Perspective of the Bioeconomy: A Systematic Review

“…Although several authors published papers about how OA could collaborate on avoiding the threat of global climate change (e.g., reducing environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions) [37][38][39][40][42][43][44], these results were a consequence of local empirical strategies of positive evidence presented. Furthermore, these studies just focused on some key areas and not encompassed a global strategy viable to different countries, climates, characteristics of farming, and public support.…”

“…With regard to improving soil quality, crop diversification practices, such as including legume rotations with cereal rotations in the preparation of cultivation, furnish examples of effective techniques [39,40]. Such methods provide the nutrients necessary to dispense with synthetic fertilizers.…”

“…Silva and Delate [37]; Navarro-Miró et al [38]; Canali et al [39]; Feiziene et al [40]; Lori et al [41]; Chocano et al [42]; Shah et al [43]; Maltais-Landry et al [44] Life cycle analyses Life cycle analyses are often used to estimate efficient conversion to OA.…”

The introduction of soybean in an organic crop rotation in the Nemoral zone: the impact on subsequent spring wheat productivity

“…Studies have shown that conventional forage and grain legumes can increase the productivity of subsequent crops (Šarūnaitė et al, 2013;Feiziene et al, 2016). Since soybean is not a traditional crop in mid-Northern part of Europe, its residual effect is difficult to predict.…”

“…Many studies have quantified rotational effects, often called pre-crop, break crop or residual effects (Angus et al, 2015;Feiziene at al., 2016;Grant et al, 2016). However, the N contribution by legumes varies considerably depending on their species as well as local…”