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Productivity in an arable and stockless organic cropping system may be enhanced by strategic recycling of biomass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2017

Tora Matilda Råberg ,
Georg Carlsson  and
Erik Steen Jensen
Tora Matilda Råberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.
Georg Carlsson
Affiliation:
Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.
Erik Steen Jensen
Affiliation:
Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.
*
*Corresponding author: tora.raberg@slu.se
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Abstract

Recirculation of nitrogen (N) from crop residue and green-manure biomass resources may reduce the need to add new reactive N to maintain crop yield and quality. The aim of this study was to determine how different strategies for recycling residual and green-manure biomass influence yield and N concentration of the edible parts of food crops in a stockless organic cropping system. For this purpose, three biomass distribution treatments were investigated in a field experiment, based on a cropping system designed to produce both high-quality food crops and biomass resources from crop residues, cover crops and a green-manure ley. The three treatments, applied at the cropping system level, were: (1) incorporating the aboveground biomass resources in situ (IS); (2) harvesting, ensiling and redistributing the same biomass resources to the non-legume crops (biomass redistribution, BR); and (3) harvesting, ensiling and using the biomass resources as substrate for production of bio-methane via anaerobic digestion (AD) followed by distribution of the digestate as bio-fertilizer to the non-legume crops. The redistribution of ensiled (BR) and digested (AD) biomass did not increase the yield of the edible parts in winter rye (Secale cereal L.), white cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) or red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) compared with leaving the biomass on the ground at harvest (IS). The BR treatment increased the yield of lentil intercropped with oat, compared with IS treatment in one of the two studied years. The total biomass yield of the cover crop following winter rye was significantly higher in the BR treatment than in IS in both years. The legume proportion in the green-manure ley was significantly higher in the AD and BR treatments as compared with IS in one of the experimental years. This study showed that strategic biomass redistribution has the potential to enhance biomass productivity while maintaining food crop yields, thereby enhancing whole system productivity. Biomass redistribution systems both with and without biogas digestion offer a new strategy for the development of multifunctional arable cropping systems that rely on internal nutrient cycling.

Keywords

anaerobic digestioncover cropdigestatediversitygreen-manure biomassintercroppingagronomyhorticulturearablestocklessstrategic recycling
Type
Research Paper
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 20 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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