Enhancing Environmental Performance with Winter Cover Cropping after Potato Harvest in Eastern Canada

In humid climates, the risk of nitrate leaching and topsoil loss due to erosion is high on bare soil in the fall after potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) harvest and in the spring with snowmelt. This 2-year study (2016-2017) compared three winter cover crops. Two of these are used as cash crops (winter r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 2020-06, Vol.51 (11), p.1499-1513
Main Authors: Nyiraneza, Judith, Zebarth, Bernie J., Fillmore, Sherry A.E., Khakbazan, Mohammad, Hann, Sheldon W.R., Owen, Josée
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Cash crops
Cereal crops
Climate
Cover crops
Crop yield
Crops
Dry matter
Environmental performance
Environmental risk
Grain
Harvesting
Humid climates
Leaching
Nitrates
Potatoes
Rye
Sediment
Sediments
Snowmelt
Soil erosion
Soils
Splash detachment
splash pan
Spring
Spring (season)
Straw
Topsoil
Triticum aestivum
Wheat
winter cereal
winter rye
Winter wheat
Yields
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In humid climates, the risk of nitrate leaching and topsoil loss due to erosion is high on bare soil in the fall after potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) harvest and in the spring with snowmelt. This 2-year study (2016-2017) compared three winter cover crops. Two of these are used as cash crops (winter rye [Secale cereale L.], winter wheat [Triticum aestivum L.]), and one is a winter-killed cover crop (spring barley, Hordeum vulgare L.). They were all seeded on two dates after potato harvest (end of September or first week of October) in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The measured parameters included soil nitrate measured at different times in fall and in the following spring and summer, splash detachment, C and N contents in splashed sediments, cereal straw dry matter yield, and cereal grain yield. In both years, all winter cover crops decreased splash detachment compared with the no winter cover control, with winter rye having the greatest reduction. A similar trend was observed for C and N contents in splashed sediments. There was a trend toward lower soil nitrate following winter cover crops in comparison with bare soil, but the trend was not consistent across trials and sampling dates. Winter wheat grain yield ranged from 4.5 to 7.6 Mg ha −1 , while that associated with winter rye ranged from 3.2 to 5.1 Mg ha −1 . Therefore, winter cereal seeded after potato harvest can constitute a good source of revenue while mitigating the risk of soil erosion and reducing nitrate leaching in some cases.
ISSN:0010-3624
1532-2416
1532-4133
DOI:10.1080/00103624.2020.1784920