Author:
Raimondi Giorgia,Maucieri Carmelo,Borin Maurizio,Pancorbo José Luis,Cabrera Miguel,Quemada Miguel
Abstract
AbstractCover crops (CCs) can affect the cropping systems’ N dynamics and soil water content (SWC), but optimizing their potential effects requires knowledge of their growth pattern, N accumulation, and mineralization. For this purpose, a 3-year field experiment was initiated in northeast Italy involving a maize-soybean rotation. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the use of time series vegetation indices (VIs) obtained from the Sentinel-2 satellite for monitoring the growth of CCs and estimating their biomass and N uptake at termination; (ii) investigate the effects of different CCs on cash crop yield and SWC; and (iii) use the simulation model CC-NCALC to predict the nitrogen contribution of CCs to subsequent cash crops. Three CC systems were tested: a fixed treatment with triticale; a 3-year succession of rye, crimson clover, and mustard; and a control with no CCs. Satellite imagery revealed that rye and triticale grew faster during the winter season than clover but slower compared to mustard, which suffered a frost winterkilling. Both grasses and mustard produced greater biomass at termination compared to clover, but none of the CC species affected SWC or yield and N uptake of the cash crop. A net N mineralization of all the CC residues was estimated by the model (except for the N immobilization after triticale roots residues). During the subsequent cash crop season, the estimated clover and mustard N released was around 33%, and the triticale around 3% of their total N uptake, with a release peak 2 months after their termination. The use of remote sensing imagery and a prediction model of CC residue decomposition showed potential to be used as instruments for optimizing the CCs utilization and enhancing cropping water and N fertilization management efficiency; however, it must be further analyzed with other CCs species, environmental conditions, and cropping systems.
Funder
Dipartimento di Agronomia, Animali, Alimenti, Risorse naturali e Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Padova
Università degli Studi di Padova
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Agronomy and Crop Science,Environmental Engineering
Reference98 articles.
1. Alonso-Ayuso M, Gabriel JL, Quemada M (2014) The kill date as a management tool for cover cropping success. PLoS ONE 9(10):e109587. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109587
2. Alonso-Ayuso M, Gabriel JL, García-González I, Del Monte JP, Quemada M (2018a) Weed density and diversity in a long-term cover crop experiment background. Crop Prot 112:103–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2018.04.012
3. Alonso-Ayuso M, Quemada M, Vanclooster M, Ruiz-Ramos M, Rodriguez A, Gabriel JL (2018b) Assessing cover crop management under actual and climate change conditions. Sci Total Environ 621:1330–1341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.095
4. Alvarez R, Steinbach HS, De Paepe JL (2017) Cover crop effects on soils and subsequent crops in the pampas: a meta-analysis. Soil Tillage Res. 170:53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2017.03.005
5. Barnes EM, Clarke TR, Richards SE, Colaizzi PD, Haberland J, Kostrzewski M, Waller P, Choi C, Riley E, Thompson T, Lascano RJ (2000) Coincident detection of crop water stress, nitrogen status and canopy density using ground based multispectral data. Proc. Fifth Int. Conf. Precis. Agric. 1619