• Authors:
    • Mal'tsev, N.
    • Tsybikov, B.
    • Korshunov, V.
    • Batudaev, A.
  • Source: Russian Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 36
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: The performance of the following rotation systems with various types of fallow was evaluated at the steppe zone of Transbaikalia, Russia, during 1997-2007: clean fallow [fallow without ground cover]-wheat-oat-oat for biomass (T1); fallow with yellow sweet clover [ Melilotus officinalis]-wheat-clean fallow-yellow sweet clover (T2); fallow with yellow sweet clover-wheat-clean fallow-wheat + yellow sweet clover (T3); fallow with yellow sweet clover-wheat-oat-oat + yellow sweet clover for biomass (T4); fallow with oilseed radish-wheat-oat-oat for biomass (T5); oat for biomass-wheat-oat-oat for biomass (T6); and wheat-wheat-oat-clean fallow (T7). Spring wheat yields and productivity values recorded for fallow with yellow sweet clover (T2, T3 and T4) were as high as those registered for clean fallow (T1). The highest profitability values were obtained with T2 (172.0%) and T4 (170.0%).
  • Authors:
    • Cogo, N. P.
    • Paz Gonzalez, A.
    • Vidal Vazquez, E.
    • Bertol, I.
    • Luciano, R. V.
    • Fabian, E. L.
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIA DO SOLO
  • Volume: 34
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Quantity and size distribution of sediments transported by runoff are influenced by soil management, cover and crop systems, and by rainfall, among other factors, representing an important aspect in soil conservation planning. The objective of this study was to quantify runoff sediments and relate them with runoff velocity, during soybean growth, in a simulated rainfall experiment initiated in 1998 on a typical Hapludox, under the following soil management systems: conventional tillage with one plowing plus two diskings (CT) and no-tillage on a never tilled soil with burned residues (NT). In these treatments, the rotation crop systems consisted of oat, soybean, vetch, corn, oats, bean, fodder radish, soybean, vetch, corn, and soybean. An additional treatment with bare soil with one plowing plus two diskings (BS) was also studied. Five simulated rainfall tests were applied to the treatments in the last soybean crop cycle, with an intensity of 63-67 mm h -1 for one hour, 24 h after a pre-wetting rainfall, with an intensity of 65 mm h -1 and long enough to initiate runoff. The sediments were quantified in runoff samples collected 10 minutes before the end of each simulated rainfall test, and were related with the runoff velocity. The sediment size in the runoff was influenced by soil management systems and the rainfall quantity. In the treatment without soil cover (BS), the quantity of coarse sediments was higher than in the treatments with cultivated soil, whereas in CT and NT treatments the quantity of fine-sized sediments was higher than in the BS treatment. More sediments tended to be transported in the runoff with the application of more rainfall events. The sediment quantity transported by runoff was related with the sediment size, fitting to a positive exponential model, while runoff velocity decreased exponentially with increased soil cover. The D 50 index was related with other variables, fitting to the potential model and increasing with runoff velocity.
  • Authors:
    • Inomoto, M. M.
    • Machado, A. C. Z.
    • Borges, D. C.
  • Source: Tropical Plant Pathology
  • Volume: 35
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Black oat ( Avena strigosa), white oat ( A. sativa) and Algerian oat ( A. byzantina) are extensively cultivated in the south of Brazil for grain, forage, hay and silage production, or as cover crop in no-tillage and crop-pasture integration systems. In both systems, the genotypes of oat used as cover crop must be nonhosts or poor hosts of damaging nematodes for summer cash crops. Taking into account the relevance of Pratylenchus brachyurus as a pathogen for many cash crops in Brazil, two experiments were carried out in a glasshouse in order to evaluate the host suitability of selected oat cultivars to this nematode. The initial population inoculated (Pi) were 92 specimens/plot in experiment 1, and 270 in experiment 2. At the end of experimental periods (86 days after inoculation in experiment 1 and 67 days in experiment 2), the final population (Pf) of P. brachyurus was estimated and the reproductive factor (RF=Pf/Pi) was calculated. The results demonstrated that black oat (RF=0.04-1.03) is more valuable than Algerian oat (RF=2.63-2.88) or white oat (RF=1.37-1.93) for the management of P. brachyurus.
  • Authors:
    • Radicetti, E.
    • Mancinelli, R.
    • Campiglia, E.
    • Caporali, F.
  • Source: Crop Protection
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Cover crops and mulches are a suitable choice for sustainable agriculture because they improve weed control and crop performance. The aim of this research was to investigate weed control and nitrogen supply by using different winter cover crop species which were converted into mulches in spring. We carried out a 2-year field experiment where a tomato crop was transplanted into four different types of mulches coming from winter cover crops [(hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth.), subclover ( Trifolium subterraneum L.), oat ( Avena sativa L.), and a mixture of hairy vetch/oat)] and in conventional treatment (tilled soil without mulch). The mixture of hairy vetch/oat cover crop produced the highest aboveground biomass (7.9 t ha -1 of DM), while the hairy vetch accumulated the highest N in the aboveground biomass (258 kg N ha -1). The oat cover crop was the most effective cover crop for suppressing weeds (on average -93% of weed aboveground biomass compared to other cover crops). After mowing the cover crop aboveground biomass was placed in strips as dead mulch into which the tomato was transplanted in paired rows. Weed density and total weed aboveground biomass were assessed at 15 and 30 days after tomato transplanting to evaluate the effect of mulches on weed control. All mulches suppressed weeds in density and aboveground biomass compared to the conventional system (on average -80% and -35%, respectively). The oat was the best mulch for weed control but also had a negative effect on the marketable tomato yield (-15% compared to the conventional treatment). Amaranthus retroflexus L. and Chenopodium album L. were typical weeds associated with the conventional treatment while a more heterogeneous weed composition was found in mulched tomato. Legume mulches, in particular hairy vetch, gave the best marketable tomato yield 28% higher than the conventional system both with and without nitrogen fertilization. This research shows that winter cover crops converted into dead mulch in spring could be used successfully in integrated weed management programs to reduce weed infestation in tomato crops.
  • Authors:
    • Conte, O.
    • Levien, R.
    • Trein, C.
    • Cepik, C.
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE ENGENHARIA AGRICOLA E AMBIENTAL
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: No tillage implies keeping the soil surface covered with crops or crop residues, which might influence planter performance. Using fixed shanks as furrow openers to place fertiliser is an alternative to minimize compaction, as it mobilizes the soil in the sowing line. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of different amounts of winter cover crop residues evenly distributed on the soil, the effect of the shanks working depth and quantity of planter lines on power demand, cross sectional furrow area and total volume of soil mobilized in the lines and corresponding wheel slippage in distrophic red Argisol. During winter, black oats and black oats plus turnip were used as cover crops before maize and beans, respectively. Increasing the working depth showed an increase in power demand, as measured directly at the shanks (three lines for maize and five for beans). There was also an effect of residue, increasing power demand on the shanks, but only measurable with the planter operating with three lines in maize sowing. Soil mobilization in the sowing lines was influenced by the amount of residues, the working depths of shank and the quantity of planter lines. Wheel slippage was higher with larger amounts of soil cover residues and when power demand was higher.
  • Authors:
    • Vuckovic, S.
    • Eric, P.
    • Mikic, A.
    • Krstic, D.
    • Cupina, B.
    • Pejic, B.
  • Source: TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY
  • Volume: 34
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Field pea ( Pisum sativum L.) has the potential to be a suitable companion crop for the establishment of red clover ( Trifolium pratense L.), as it is fast growing and is harvested early, and thus reduces the duration of competition and allows light to be transmitted through its canopy to an undersown species more so than other companion crops such as small grains. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of field pea as a companion crop for red clover, and in particular to determine the effect of pea cultivar and plant population density. The field experiment comprised 2 sowing years, (2004 and 2005), and the first cut in the first full harvest year in 2005 and 2006. The factorial component of the experiment involved 2 pea varieties (Jezero: semi-leafless; Javor: normal leaves with reduced leaflet size) and 3 densities (30, 60, and 90 plants m -2). Two control treatments were also included in the experiment, i.e. red clover grown as pure stand (control I) and red clover with oat as a cover crop (control II). When the field pea had reached the harvestable stage all plots were cut, followed by 2 additional cuts in the sowing year. Yields at the first cut in the following year were also recorded. Forage and protein yields, as well as the weed proportion were measured. On average, control II produced the highest forage yield, followed by pea as the cover crop; the lowest yield was obtained in the pure stand of red clover. Field pea cultivar yields did not differ significantly. The highest average yield was obtained with 90 plants m -2. The first cut comprised the highest proportion of annual yield (50%-69% when field pea was included). Red clover establishment was not adversely affected by competition from peas. As crude protein content did not vary much, crude protein yield followed the same trend as forage yield (r=0.83).
  • Authors:
    • Conte, O.
    • Trein, C. R.
    • Levien, R.
    • Debiasi, H.
    • Kamimura, K. M.
  • Source: PESQUISA AGROPECUARIA BRASILEIRA
  • Volume: 45
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of soil winter covers and soil mechanical loosening on soybean and corn yield, in no-tillage system. Two experiments were carried out in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, in a compacted Argissolo Vermelho (Haplic Acrisol), in the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 crop seasons. The first experiment was carried out in a complete block design, with a split plot arrangement. The treatments were two theoretical working depths of a driller chisel-type furrow opener (0.06 and 0.12 m, split plot), and three soil winter covers (main plot): fallow, black oat ( Avena strigosa), and black oat+common vetch ( Vicia sativa). In 2006, the soil cover black oat+common vetch was replaced by oilseed radish ( Raphanus sativus). In the second experiment, in a complete block design, the soil was chiseled and treatments consisted of black oat or oilseed radish as winter cover crops. Cover crops reduced soil superficial (0-0,06 m) compaction compared to fallow and, in the 2005/2006-crop season, under low water availability, provided higher soybean and corn yields. In the 2006/2007-crop season, when water availability was higher, the same did not happen. Increasing working depths of the chisel-type furrow opener did not affect soybean or corn yields. Soil chiseling reduced soybean and corn yields in comparison to the continuous no-tillage system.
  • Authors:
    • Amri, M.
    • Fernandez-Aparicio, M.
    • Kharrat, M.
    • Rubiales, D.
  • Source: Crop Protection
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: 7
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Mycosphaerella pinodes is a serious pea disease of worldwide distribution. The increasing interest of sustainable tools for disease control, together with the lack of sufficient levels of genetic resistance has brought our interest in the use of intercropping as a tool for management of this disease. Effect of intercropping on M. pinodes severity was studied in field experiments performed in Spain and Tunisia, in which a susceptible pea cultivar was grown as monocrop and as two species mixed intercrop with either faba bean, barley, oat, triticale or wheat. Disease was significantly reduced in terms of both percent of diseased tissue per plant and vertical progress of lesions when pea was intercropped. Faba bean and triticale intercropped with pea showed the highest suppressive ability with above 60% of disease reduction. Oat, barley and wheat showed low to moderate M. pinodes suppressive effects. Suppressive effects can be ascribed to a combined reduction of host biomass, altered microclimate and physical barrier to spore dispersal.
  • Authors:
    • Kosterna, E.
    • Franczuk, J.
    • Zaniewicz-Bajkowska, A.
  • Source: Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B-Soil and Plant Science
  • Volume: 60
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted during the period 2002-2006 at the Experimental Farm in Zawady, located in the mid-eastern part of Poland, to evaluate the effect of date of mulch ploughing down (autumn, spring, left till cabbage harvest) and the plant mulches [phacelia ( Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.), vetch ( Vicia sativa L.), serradella ( Ornithopus sativus), and oat ( Avena sativa L.)] on the weed pressure in red cabbage ( Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L. f. rubra) in the first and onion ( Allium cepa L. var. cepa Helm.) in the second year after mulching. The biomass yield of plant mulches, total cabbage and onion yields, and biomass and number of weeds before planting and harvest of cabbage and before sowing and harvest of onion were assessed. Weed infestation was determined by the quantitative-weighting method. The biomass yields of phacelia and oat amounted to 26.6 and 24.8 t.ha -1, respectively, and were almost 2.5-times higher than biomass yields of serradella and vetch. The average cabbage and onion yields were 45.8 and 41.9 t.ha -1, respectively. The yields of vegetables following mulches were higher than the yields recorded in the unmulched control. The weed species most often found in the experiment were Viola arvensis Murr., Capsella bursa pastoris, Matricaria indora L., Chenopodium album L., and Stellaria media (L.) Vill. Of the examined dates of mulch ploughing down, the spring-incorporated mulches were most effective in reducing the number of weeds in cabbage whereas the nonincorporated mulches showed such an effect in onion. Nonlegumes (phacelia and oat) used as mulch produced higher fresh biomass yields than did vetch and serradella. Oat and phacelia mulches significantly reduced the fresh biomass and number of weeds before cabbage planting. Additionally, oat mulch reduced the fresh biomass of weeds before cabbage harvest. Also, oat and phacelia mulches reduced the number of weeds before onion harvest.
  • Authors:
    • Rosa, R.
    • Kosterna, E.
    • Zaniewicz-Bajkowska, A.
    • Franczuk, J.
    • Pniewska, I.
    • Olszewski, W.
  • Source: ACTA SCIENTIARUM POLONORUM-HORTORUM CULTUS
  • Volume: 9
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Very important element of proecological vegetables cultivation it is cover plants applied. They have favourable influence on the soil environment, indicated the possibility of limiting mineral fertilizer use and also reduce an application of herbicides, allow to keep soil fertility and in this same achieve high and good quality of yield. An experiment was carried out in 2002-2005 at the Experimental Farm in Zawady belonging to University of Podlasie. The objective of the study was the effect of cover plants (phacelia, spring vetch, serradella and oat) ploughed down in the autumn, spring or retained on the soil surface as a cover crop on the yield of red and savoy cabbage, and dry matter and vitamin C contents in white and savoy cabbage was investigated. The effects of covers were compared to the uncovered control. White cabbage cv. 'Masada F 1', red cabbage cv. 'Koda' and savoy cabbage cv. 'Wirosa F 1' were cultivated. Irrespective of the date of ploughing down of cover plants, serradella was the best plant cover preceding red cabbage, and phacelia was most beneficial when preceded savoy cabbage. Oat cover ploughed down in the autumn favoured dry matter accumulation, when spring-incorporated, stimulated vitamin C in white cabbage. The autumn-incorporated phacelia cover resulted in the greatest dry matter and vitamin C contents in savoy cabbage.