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EFFECT OF GROWING INTERMEDIATE CROPS PRONE TO FROST KILL ON THE RETENTION AND INCREASE OF N SUPPLY IN THE SOIL
Abstract
The main goal of research was to assess whether the growing of intermediate crops prone to frost kill could contribute to increase the capacity of arable land for the retention of N-substances. In 2018, a field experiment was established, in which the following intermediate crops were grown in the period between the main crops (wheat - corn): (i) Trifolium vesiculosum Savi., (ii) Trifolium pannonicum Jacq., (iii) Trifolium subterraneum L., and a control variant with no inter crop. The intermediate crops were sown after the harvest of winter wheat on 25 July 2018 and were left on the plot until the next crop of corn was sown on 25 May 2019. They froze out naturally during the winter months, and the corn was sown directly into biomass residues. Parameters monitored were Nmin soil contents in autumn and spring, biomass produced and the content of N-substances in the plants. The growing of intermediate crops had a positive effect on the retention of Nmin in the soil, particularly before sowing the main crop. In the variants of Trifolium vesiculosum Savi L. and Trifolium subterraneum L., the supply of Nmin significantly (P < 0.05) increased in spring, on average by more than 50 kg N/ha. Another benefit was N retained in the plant biomass when the individual species succeeded in producing such an amount of biomass in autumn that they were capable of fixing from 40 to 180 kg N/ha. This N was subsequently slowly released through the natural process of mineralization. The growing of intermediate crops prone to frost kill can be therefore considered a method suitable for increasing the soil capacity to retain the reactive N.
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