Nitrogen dynamics of pastures: nitrogen fixation inputs, the impact of legumes on soil nitrogen fertility, and the contributions of fixed nitrogen to Australian farming systems

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
J. A. Baldock
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Net Productivity ◽  
Tropical Environments ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Experimental estimates of amounts of foliage nitrogen (N) fixed in Australian pastures range from 2 to 284 kg N/ha.year for annual and perennial legumes growing in temperate and tropical environments. Differences in the amounts of N2 fixed relate primarily to the legume content and net productivity of pastures. On average, close to 20–25 kg of shoot N are fixed for every tonne of legume herbage dry matter produced across a wide range of environments. Strategies likely to improve the potential for N2 fixation include: (i) rhizobial inoculation at time of first sowing a new legume species; (ii) amelioration of nutritional problems (applications of superphosphate or lime); (iii) manipulation of pasture composition (herbicide applications to remove grasses in annual pastures in the year prior to cropping); and (iv) including lucerne to offset the year-to-year variability in N2 fixation inputs from annual legumes. However, pasture response to such management treatments and the subsequent availability of soil mineral N may be modified by livestock effects on nutrient cycling, pasture productivity and botanical composition. Conclusions about the relative size of the contributions of fixed N to the N economies of Australian farming systems depend on whether or not estimates of fixed N are included for nodulated roots. Thus residual net inputs of fixed N after each year of a legume-based pasture are generally rated sufficient to balance the N removed by at least 1 subsequent wheat crop provided estimates of below-ground N are included in calculations. Pasture type influences the duration of subsequent rotational benefits and while residual effects on mineral N are commonly exhausted within 2 years after an annual legume-based pasture phase, N carry-over following lucerne generally lasts considerably longer.

New ley legumes increase nitrogen fixation and availability and grain crop yields in subtropical cropping systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay W. Bell ◽  
John Lawrence ◽  
Brian Johnson ◽  
Mark B. Peoples
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Grain Sorghum ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Soil Mineral N ◽  
Soil Mineral ◽  
Forage Legumes ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Forage Sorghum ◽  
Grain Crops

Several new and existing short-term forage legumes could be used to provide nitrogen (N) inputs for grain crops in subtropical farming systems. The fixed-N inputs from summer-growing forage legumes lablab (Lablab purpureus), burgundy bean (Macroptilium bracteatum) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) and winter-growing legume species snail medic (Medicago scutellata), sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) and purple vetch (Vicia benghalensis) were compared over several growing seasons at four locations in southern Queensland, Australia. Available soil mineral N and grain yield of a following cereal crop were compared among summer-growing legumes and forage sorghum (Sorghum spp. hybrid) and among winter-growing legumes and forage oats (Avena sativa). In the first year at all sites, legumes utilised the high initial soil mineral N, with <30% of the legume N estimated to have been derived from atmospheric N2 (%Ndfa) and legume-fixed N <30 kg/ha. In subsequent years, once soil mineral N had been depleted, %Ndfa increased to 50–70% in the summer-growing legumes and to 60–80% in winter-growing legumes. However, because forage shoot N was removed, rarely did fixed N provide a positive N balance. Both lablab and burgundy bean fixed up to 150 kg N/ha, which was more than lucerne in all seasons. Prior to sowing cereal grain crops, soil nitrate was 30–50 kg/ha higher after summer legumes than after forage sorghum. At one site, lablab and lucerne increased the growth and yield of a subsequent grain sorghum crop by 1.4 t/ha compared with growth after forage sorghum or burgundy bean. Of the winter-growing legumes, sulla had the highest total N2 fixation (up to 150 kg N/ha.year) and inputs of fixed N (up to 75 kg N/ha), and resulted in the highest concentrations of soil N (80–100 kg N/ha more than oats) before sowing of the following crop. Wheat protein was increased after winter legumes, but there was no observed yield benefit for wheat or grain sorghum crops. New forage legume options, lablab, burgundy bean and sulla, showed potential to increase N supply in crop rotations in subtropical farming systems, contributing significant fixed N (75–150 kg/ha) and increasing available soil N for subsequent crops compared to non-legume forage crops. However, high soil mineral N (>50 kg N/ha) greatly reduced N2 fixation by forage legumes, and significant N2 fixation only occurred once legume shoot N uptake exceeded soil mineral N at the start of the growing season. Further work is required to explore the impact of different management strategies, such as livestock grazing rather than harvesting for hay, on the long-term implications for nutrient supply for subsequent crops.

Chickpea in wheat-based cropping systems of northern New South Wales I. N2 fixation and influence on soil nitrate and water

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Marcellos ◽  
W. L. Felton ◽  
D. F. Herridge
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Cereal Crop ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
South Wales ◽  
N Fertility ◽  
Summer Fallow

Chickpea has potential as a rotation or break crop in the northern grains region of New South Wales and Queensland. Definition of that potential requires information on chickpea N2 fixation and on effects of chickpea on maintenance of soil N fertility and delivery of mineral N for use by a following cereal crop. Results from 6 experiments in northern NSW in which chickpea and wheat in one season were followed by wheat in subsequent seasons indicated variable N2 fixation by chickpea (mean 73 kg/ha; range 4-116 kg/ha), associated with variable Pfix (percentage of chickpea N derived from N2 fixation) (mean 57%; range 4-79%). There were no consistent differences between chickpea and wheat in effects on soil water, either pre-harvest or after the summer fallow. Chickpea ‘spared’ nitrate, relative to wheat (mean 15 kg/ha; range 1-35 kg/ha), and mineralised additional nitrate during the summer fallow (mean 18 kg/ha; range 5-40 kg/ha). Nitrate-N in the top 1·2 m of the soil profile at sowing of the following wheat crop was on average 89 kg/ha after chickpea (range 63-113 kg/ha) and 56 kg/ha after wheat (range 33-94 kg/ha). Nitrogen mineralisation rates during the summer fallow at 2 sites of 0·17 and 0· 21 kg N/ha · day (after chickpea), although greater than the rates after wheat (0· 07 and 0·12 kg N/ha · day), were not sufficient to meet the N requirements of a moderate to high yielding cereal crop. We concluded that chickpea did not fix sufficient N2 or mineralise sufficient N from residues either to maintain soil N fertility or to sustain a productive chickpea{wheat rotation without inputs of additional fertiliser N.

Effect of pasture management on the contributions of fixed N to the N economy of ley-farming systems

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 459 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
R. R. Gault ◽  
G. J. Scammell ◽  
B. S. Dear ◽  
J. Virgona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Trifolium Subterraneum ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Ley Farming ◽  
Ley Farming Systems

The effects of different management regimes on N2 fixation by subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) in annual pastures and lucerne (Medicago sativa) in perennial-based pastures were examined in 5 experiments and 55 commercial paddocks, in which the pastures were grown in phased rotation with crops. The objectives were to quantify the inputs of fixed N2 and to determine ways of increasing nitrogen (N) inputs into ley-farming systems of southern New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria. Estimates of annual amounts of N2 fixed, based on above-ground herbage production in grazed pastures, ranged from 5 to 238 kg N/ha for subterranean clover and from 47 to 167 kg N/ha for lucerne. Legume reliance upon N2 fixation for growth (Pfix) was high (>65%) in most annual and perennial pastures examined. The levels of Pfix were generally unaffected by management treatments. As a consequence the amounts of N2 fixed were predominantly regulated by the legume content and herbage yield of pastures rather than by any marked differences in the ability of the legume to fix N. When all experimental results were combined with on-farm measurements of N2 fixation, the data indicated that lucerne and subterranean clover fixed 22-25 kg N for every tonne of legume dry matter produced. Management inputs to annual pastures which improved the productivity of subterranean clover and the amounts of N2 fixed included applications of superphosphate and the removal of grass species with herbicide, although the response to these treatments was not consistent across all sites in all years. Potential inputs from N2 fixation were high in annual pastures, and improved management during a good clover season enhanced the levels of mineral N detected in the soil profile (0-200 cm) the following autumn by 100-200 kg N/ha. However, year-to-year variability in annual pasture productivity and clover content resulted in large fluctuations in amounts of N2 fixed. Perennial pastures containing lucerne provided consistently greater annual herbage production, had more stable legume contents, and fixed on average 90-150% more N2 than neighbouring subterranean clover-based pastures. Even during the 1994 drought when annual pastures failed, lucerne still managed to fix >70 kg N/ha. It is proposed that lucerne-based pastures could represent a more reliable means of improving soil fertility for subsequent crops than annual pastures.

Break-crop benefits to wheat in Western Australia – insights from over three decades of research

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Seymour ◽  
John A. Kirkegaard ◽  
Mark B. Peoples ◽  
Peter F. White ◽  
Robert J. French
Keyword(s):  
Weed Control ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Field Pea ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Brassica Napus L ◽  
Rainfed Farming ◽  
The Impact

Broadleaf break crops improve cereal yield through disease and weed control, increased nitrogen (N) availability and other mechanisms. In the rainfed farming systems of Australia the magnitude of the yield benefit is highly variable, yet is a major driver for adoption of break crops which are often less profitable and more risky than cereals. Declining area of break crops throughout Australia has re-ignited interest in better understanding the circumstances in which break-crop benefits can be maximised from a farming systems perspective. We compiled and analysed a database of 167 crop sequence experiments conducted throughout Western Australia in the period 1974–2007 to evaluate the impact on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield from the use of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.), canola (Brassica napus L.) or oats (Avena sativa L.), or following a long fallow where no crop had been sown the previous year. Adjusted for the years in which each was represented the average yield benefit to wheat compared with wheat after wheat was 0.60, 0.45, 0.40, 0.35 and 0.30 t/ha following lupin, field pea, canola, oats or fallow, though direct comparisons between break crops could not be made as few experiments (3) included all species. For all break crops, the mean wheat yield increase was independent of the level of wheat yield, representing a step-change rather than a proportional improvement in yield. Analysis of the larger number and spread of lupin experiments revealed that break-crop benefits increased in higher rainfall areas, following higher yielding lupin crops (>1.5 t/ha), and that the break-crop benefit in terms of yield and water-use efficiency increased significantly after 1991. These observations were often related to the level and/or effectiveness of diseases or grass weed control in the break crop; however, increased contribution of fixed N was also likely with better legume crops. For both lupin and field pea, the magnitude of the break-crop response declined as rate of N fertiliser applied to subsequent wheat crop increased, although non-N related benefits (disease and weed control) tended to dominate wheat response to lupin after 1989. Significant break-crop benefits from lupins (+0.40 t/ha) persisted to a third wheat crop (n = 29) but effects were inconsistent beyond that point. The magnitude, persistence and reliability of the break-crop benefits revealed in this study provide a more accurate framework to assess their likely benefit within the farming system. Further information is required to define the key ‘trigger points’ for the major drivers of the response – water, N, weeds and disease – at which the benefits outweigh the higher risk of these crops and would influence the decision to include them within the system.

scholarly journals Impacts of the Winter Pea Crop (Instead of Rapeseed) on Soil Microbial Communities, Nitrogen Balance and Wheat Yield

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Cyrine Rezgui ◽  
Wassila Riah-Anglet ◽  
Marie Benoit ◽  
Pierre Yves Bernard ◽  
Karine Laval ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Previous Crop ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Crop Succession

Due to legume-based systems improving several aspects of soil fertility, the diversification of agrosystems using legumes in crop succession is gaining increasing interest. The benefits of legumes aroused the interest of farmers in the association of the Economic and Environmental Interest Group (EEIG), who introduced the idea of using the winter pea instead of rapeseed in their crop succession. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the winter pea compared to those of rapeseed, as a head crop of the rotation, on soil microbial communities, enzyme activities, nitrogen (N) balance and yields. The field experiment involved two farmer plots that were selected within the EEIG. In each plot, two crop successions, including winter pea–wheat and rapeseed–wheat with fertilized and unfertilized strips, were examined for two years. Three times a year, under the wheat crop, composite soil samples were collected at depths of 0–20 cm, for microbial abundance and enzyme activity analyses, and twice a year at a depth of 0–60 cm, for the measuring of the mineral N. The results showed that the rapeseed–wheat succession maintained or enhanced soil bacterial and fungal biomasses and their enzyme activities. The winter pea–wheat succession enriched the soil’s mineral N content more consistently than the rapeseed–wheat succession. The mineral N enhancement’s effect was maintained under the wheat crop. Overall, the impact of the winter pea was positive on the soil’s N dynamics, but wheat yields were equivalent regardless of the previous crop (winter pea or rapeseed with and without fertilization). In the Normandy region, as rapeseed requires a large amount of N fertilizer and pesticide to maintain the yield and quality of crop products, it is suitable to favor the introduction of the winter pea as the head crop of the rotation, which indirectly allows for a reduction in the costs of input production and use, the working time of farmers and environmental pollution.

scholarly journals Vulnerability and Local Innovation in Adaptation to Climate Change among the Pastoralists: Harshin District, Somali Region, Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Yohannes Gebre Michael
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Somali Region ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Point Of Departure

The case study was made with the overall aim of understanding of pastoralist vulnerability and adaptation to climate changes. As a methodology five kebeles have been purposely selected representing pastoral and agro-pastoral farming systems in Harshin district of Somali Region in Ethiopia. The survey was conducted through semi-structured checklists with individual households and groups accounting a total of 124 people.The major findings of the study indicated that the environmental and socio-economic dynamics are skewed to negative trends where the livelihood of the pastoral community is under a big threat. Moreover, the combinations of factors including access to resources and social institutions, livelihood practices, inappropriate technologies and policies have attributed to trigger the vulnerability to climate change among the pastoralists in general and agro-pastoralists in particular. In adapting to the impact of climate change, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists are using wide range of group and individual local innovations, some farming practices and establishment of multi-functional grassroots institutions. Finally creating enabling policy environment for local experimentation and innovations in the framework of pastoralism and sustainability have been suggested as a point of departure in developing resilience to climate change and other pressures. 

scholarly journals Current state of wheat insects entomofauna in Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Poltava regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
T. M. Kolombar ◽  
D. V. Maslova
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Agricultural Product ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Eurygaster Integriceps ◽  
Current State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Cereals are the basis of world crop production. In Ukraine, winter wheat crop plays a rolea strategic agricultural product. The basis of food security and the formation of the national export potential depend on this crop species. Wheat has a steadydemand on the internal and foreign markets. In the structure of crops, it occupies about 6 million hectares, which is more than 22% of all cultivated areas and almost 42% of grain crops. Like most other crops, cereals serve as food supply for a wide range of insect phytophages. Conventionally, the entire fauna of endangeredspecies can be divided into multiphages, oligophages and monophages. Cereal plants are damaged by insects during the entire growing season, from germination to harvesting. There are more than 230 species of wheat insects. Territory of the steppe zone of Ukraineamounted 17 most common and criticallyendangeredspecies on. The degree of harmfulness of each species in different vegetation periods is not the same. The goal of the paper was to reveal a current state of the most common endangeredspecies (wheat phytophages) within Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava and Zaporizhia Oblasts, and to assess a degree of their harmfulness (according to literature data). Harmful insects were accounted using conventional manual sampling method. The accounting was carried out on plots of 50 × 50 cm (0.25 m2), staggered evenly over an entire field, using a frame placed onto the plants randomly. All wheat stems inside the frame were shaken to a ground surface, and the number of harmful insects was counted. At the same time, the upper layer of soil (0–25 cm) was visually inspectedfor the presence of insect larvae and imagos. 16 samples were collectedon each field. The average number of each insect species per 1 m2 of wheat crops was calculated. As a result of 50 fields survey in Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Poltava Oblast, a list of the most common endangeredspecies (wheat phytophages) in the steppe and forest-steppe zones was created. It includes 17 species belonging to 7 families from three orders. The most recorded representatives of Coleoptera order were 12 species, four species from Hemiptera order and one from Thysanoptera. On average, three species of wheat phytophages belong to each of the families; the largest number of endangeredspecies is represented by Scarabaeidae family. Among the identified phytophages, the most common were Harpalus rufipes (De Geer, 1774) 88% of infected fields, Zabrus tenebrioides (Goeze, 1777) 78% and Anisoplia austriaca (Herbst, 1783) 72%. Specimenof endangeredspecies as Eurygaster integriceps (Puton, 1881) were found on 34 fields, Haplothrips tritici (Kurdjumov, 1912) on 22 fields, Oulema lichenis (Heyden, 1879) on 21 fields, and Aelia acuminata (Linnaeus, 1758) on 18 fields. A brief description of each of 17 endangeredspecies was presented, taking into account their harmfulness in different periods of wheat vegetation. The degree of harmfulness of each species in different vegetation periods is not a same. A distinction is made between the early period, spring and the second half of the growing season. Early vegetation period is from the seedling emergence to the period of grass tillering. During this period, an impact of harmful insects is particularly dangerous, and a damage they cause can lead to a death of plants over large areas. The species most dangerous for wheat at this time are Harpalus rufipes and Zabrus tenebrioides. It is difficult to establish a clear distinction between the impact of endangeredspecies on plants during different periods of vegetation. With a beginning of spring vegetation, Oulema lichenis, Phyllotreta vittula and Chaetocnema aridula and Tropinota hirta are added to the above-mentioned species. Harmfulness during this period consists will be represented by leaf blade damage. The middle of vegetation coincides with an ear formation and grain filling phases. The most active endangeredwheat species during this period are considered to be Haplothrips tritici, Opatrum sabulosum, Pedinus femoralis and Blaps lethifera. The quality indicators of a cereal crop yield are reduced by Eurygaster integriceps and E. maura, Aelia acuminata and A. rostrata. Before the harvest the grain is damaged by various Scarabaeidae, in particular Anisoplia austriaca, A. agricola , A. segetum. As a result of controlling the number and species composition of endangeredwheat species, it is necessary to adapt the application of integrated methods of wheat protection to the soil and climatic conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Ukraine.

Contributions of nitrogen by field pea (Pisum sativum L.) in a continuous cropping sequence compared with a lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)-based pasture ley in the Victorian Wimmera

2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. McCallum ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
D. J. Connor
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Field Pea ◽  
Continuous Cropping ◽  
Soil Mineral N ◽  
Soil Mineral ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Total N ◽  
Biological N2 Fixation ◽  
Cropping Sequence

The nitrogen (N) dynamics (N2 fixation inputs, changes in soil mineral N and total N, N removed in agricultural produce) of a lucerne-based phase farming system (grazed lucerne–annual medic–ryegrass pastures grown in rotation with crops) was compared with that of continuous cropping (cereal, oilseed, and legume pulse crops) in the Victorian Wimmera. The contribution of biological N2 fixation to the N economy of these different systems was strongly linked to biomass production by the legume components of pastures, or field pea in the cropping sequence. The amount of fixed N present in field pea shoots or the total amount of N2 estimated to be fixed by the whole plant (shoots and roots) (121–175 kg N/ha.crop and 181–262 kg N/ha.crop, respectively) was generally greater than the combined measured annual inputs of fixed N by lucerne and annual medic during a pasture ley (40–95 kg N/ha.year in herbage, 80–190 kg N/ha.year in total plant), although large amounts of N were removed in the field pea grain at harvest (115–151 kg N/ha.crop). Over 2 years (1995–96), the seasonal rainfall patterns had a much larger impact on the growth, dry matter production, and N2 fixation of annual medic compared with lucerne. Winter-cleaning of ryegrass from the pasture before cropping resulted in a greater legume content in the pasture and generally increased amounts of fixed N in herbage (by up to 55 kg N/ha.year). Total soil N at depth (0.5–1.0 m) was significantly greater after 2–4 years of pasture than under continuous cropping. In one year (1996), the amount of soil mineral N following a winter-cleaned pasture was greater (by 32–45 kg N/ha, 0–1 m) than after either canola or wheat, producing a yield benefit in a subsequent canola crop that was equivalent to pre-drilling 46 kg N/ha as fertiliser. However, despite some improvements in N fertility, large crop responses to N fertiliser were still observed following pasture. Grain yield was increased by 0.33–0.55 t/ha in canola and by 1.0 t/ha in wheat, grain protein raised by 0.7–2.3% in canola and by 1.3% in wheat, and oil yield in canola enhanced by 124–205 kg/ha with pre-drilled applications of fertiliser N (46 kg/ha). It is speculated that more legume-dominant pastures (>80%) could provide greater flow-on N benefits to farming systems in the Wimmera than the mixed legume–grass swards used in the present study. However, it is likely that a need will remain for supplementary fertiliser N to optimise the nutrition of subsequent non-legume crops in the region.

scholarly journals Fusarium: a ubiquitous fungus of global significance

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
LW Burgess ◽  
WL Bryden
Keyword(s):  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Fungal Plant Pathogens ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Socio Economic Impact ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Impact

Fusarium is one of the most economically important genera of fungal plant pathogens, causing significant crop losses and contamination of grain by mycotoxins on a global basis. Some species also cause infections (mycoses) of humans and other animals. Fusarium includes many species, a significant number of which cause a wide range of plant diseases that affect many crops including major food and fibre crops such as wheat, barley, maize, bananas and cotton, often with devastating socio-economic impact. The diseases are often insidious and extremely difficult to control. Its success as a plant pathogen can be attributed to wide host ranges, endophytic infection, and varied modes of survival and dispersal. Representatives occur in virtually all bioclimatic regions of the world in agricultural and natural ecosystems. In this article we present a summary of the key aspects of the biology and morphology of Fusarium and then briefly discuss several plant diseases to illustrate the diverse nature and devastating effects of these fungi, their mycotoxins, the impact of no-till farming systems on disease incidence, and the poorly understood but key role of endophytic colonisation in the disease cycle. Inevitably, the coverage is selective but it indicates the potential global impact of this fungal genus on plant disease and food security.

scholarly journals Agro-ecological benefits of faba bean for rainfed Mediterranean cropping systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Ruisi ◽  
Gaetano Amato ◽  
Giuseppe Badagliacca ◽  
Alfonso Salvatore Frenda ◽  
Dario Giambalvo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Faba Bean ◽  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Grain Legumes ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
N Losses ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Plant Soil ◽  
Subsequent Crop

This paper reviews the main results from a set of experiments carried out in a semiarid Mediterranean environment during the past 25 years on faba bean (<em>Vicia faba</em> L.), a crop traditionally grown in southern Italy and Sicily under rainfed conditions. These experiments focused on the residual effects of faba bean on subsequent crop(s) and assessment of the nitrogen (N) balance during the crop cycle, paying attention to both the environmental release of N (losses via volatilisation and denitrification) and estimates of N2 fixation as influenced by tillage system, intercropping, and presence/absence of mycorrhizal inoculum. Faba bean relied on N2 fixation more than other grain legumes typically grown in the Mediterranean region (<em>e.g.</em>, chickpea). Contributing reasons were the higher plant N demand of faba bean and its lower capacity to use soil mineral N. This implies higher N benefits for subsequent crop(s) as well as higher risk of N losses from the plant–soil– atmosphere system via leaching, denitrification, and volatilisation. Results from these experiments contribute to better defining the role of faba bean in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems and to identifying technical solutions that maximise the potential benefits of faba bean as a fertility-building crop.

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