The long-term effect of legumes as forecrops on the productivity of rotation winter triticale–winter rape with nitrogen fertilisation

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the long-term effect of legumes as forecrops on the productivity of rotation with nitrogen fertilisation. The rotation included: legumes + spring barley, winter triticale and winter rape. The study was conducted as a two-factorial field experiment with four replications. The present study showed that legumes, as forecrops, increased the yield of WT cultivated in the second year of rotation. The seed yield of WR cultivated in the third year of rotation significantly increased after all legume forecrops, with the exception of PEA. Yielding of these crops depended also on nitrogen fertilisation. In the case of WT doses 120 kg N ha−1 and 180 kg N ha−1 there was an increased yield compared with control independent of forecrop, but there were no significant differences between doses 120 and 180 kg N ha−1. The conclusion is that we do not need to use dose 180 kg N ha−1 for WT cultivated directly after legumes. In the cultivation of WR in the third year of rotation there is no need to use a dose of nitrogen 180 kg N ha−1 if the fore-fore-crops were indeterminate cultivars of BL or YL.

Keywords

• legumes
• forecrop
• yield of winter triticale
• winter rape