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COMPARISON OF MINERAL NITROGEN LEACHING IN CONVENTIONAL AND MIXED CROPPING SYSTEM
Abstract
The leaching of mineral nitrogen (Nmin) represents a serious problem of modern agriculture in the European Union and also in the Czech Republic. The reason is the loss of nutrient important for plants from the soil environment and subsequent threat to the quality of soil ecosystem. The main goal of the present work is to show the influence of the mixed cropping system in the sowing process on Nmin leaching of from arable soil. Mixed cropping system represents cultivation of different crops at one field simultaneously, in particular mixture of leguminous and non-leguminous crops. Three replicates of 2 x 10 m plots per treatment were arrayed in a blocked design with the following variants: sole crop of winter wheat (140 kg N/ha) and mixed cropping of winter wheat and winter pea with or without fertilization (0 kg N/ha; 70 kg N/ha; 112 kg N/ha). Measurement of Nmin leaching from arable land was carried out to study the mentioned goal in 2013 and 2014 using ion exchange resins. In both years of the experiment, the results showed the cultivation of mixed culture had effect on decrease in Nmin leaching. However, the effect has not always been significant. The reason is that when mixed crops (legume and non-legume) are cultivated together, it is possible to reduce N inputs into the soil without reducing overall production, because part of the N needs is satisfied through biological fixation of N by legume plant. On the other hand, if the gained N is not used by plants, there is a risk of its loss from soil e.g. by leaching. Nevertheless, the measured values indicated a positive effect of mixed culture cultivation on N utilization and thus the reduction of the environmental risk of Nmin loss from the arable soil.
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