Residual effect of clover-rich leys on soil nitrogen and successive grain crops

Abstract

Legume-based leys form the basis for crop rotations in organic farming as they fix nitrogen (N) from the atmosphere for the succeeding crops. The age, yield, C:N, biological N fixation (BNF) and total N of red clover-grass leys were studied for their influence on yields, N uptake and N use efficiency (NUE) of the two sequential cereal crops planted after the leys. Mineral N in deeper soil (30-90 cm) was measured to determine N leaching risk. Altogether, four field experiments were carried out in 1994-1998 at two sites. The age of the ley had no significant effect on the yields and N uptake of the two subsequent cereals. Surprisingly, the residual effect of the leys was negligible, at 0–20 kg N ha-1yr-1. On the other hand, the yield and C:N of previous red clover-grass leys, as well as BNF-N and total-N incorporated into the soil influenced subsequent cereals. NUEs of cereals after ley incorporation were rather high, varying from 30% to 80%. This might indicate that other factors, such as competition from weeds, prevented maximal growth of cereals. The mineral N content deeper in the soil was mostly below 10 kg ha-1 in the sandy soil of Juva, but was 5-25 kg ha-1 in clayey soil of Mietoinen.;