RESEARCH ARTICLE
Assessment of Mineralized Nitrogen During Maize Growth Succeeding Different Winter Cover Crops in the Mediterranean Environment
Adelaide Perdigão1, 2, 3, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187433152208150
Publisher ID: e187433152208150
DOI: 10.2174/18743315-v16-e2208150
Article History:
Received Date: 14/5/2022Revision Received Date: 17/5/2022
Acceptance Date: 9/6/2022
Electronic publication date: 30/09/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Understanding soil nitrogen (N) dynamics is essential to find alternative N sources and improve N use efficiency in agriculture.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to assess N mineralization rates from residues of winter cover crops, during maize crop season, under Mediterranean conditions.
Methods:
A field experiment was carried out from May to September in central Portugal, with four replications, two sowing dates of cover crops (15/10/2011 and 29/11/2011) and three cover crops residues (balansa clover, ryegrass and yellow lupine) that were incorporated in the soil. Plots were cropped with local maize and net N mineralization was measured during the crop cycle, using soil cylinders placed inside micro-perforated polyethylene bags.
Results and Discussion:
Early sowing of the cover crops residues increased the NH4+ and NO3- contents in the soil. Yellow lupine residue had the highest rate of daily N mineralization (0.71 mg N kg-1 day-1). For all treatments, the highest mineralization rate was found in the last incubation period, ranging between 0.78 mg N kg-1 day-1 and 1.84 mg N kg-1 day-1, both for balansa clover, from the second and the first sowing date, respectively.
Conclusion:
The present study suggests that, under Mediterranean field conditions, cover crops residue of Italian ryegrass, balansa clover and yellow lupin can be used as a nitrogen source namely for sustainable maize crops.
