425-7 Organic Crop Rotations: Effect of Temporary Grass Component on Corn Productivity.
Poster Number 1916
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil & Water Management & ConservationSee more from this Session: Management Impacts on Soil Properties and Soil C and N Dynamics: III
The research was conducted on a rotation experiment at the WVU Organic Farm in Morgantown, WV. Two rotations were studied: four and seven year durations, with the same crop sequence (corn, soy, wheat, kale), and three years of orchard-grass/red clover added to the 7-year rotation. Two bi-annual manure rates (Low (L):0 and High (H):22.5Mg/ha) were applied. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the data.
For the year 2014 results indicated that there was no significant effect of manure rate on corn productivity, although manured plots exhibited higher productivity (1.08kg/ha biomass, 4335kg/ha yield) than unmanured plots (0.78kg/ha biomass, 3885kg/ha yield). Several soil properties were significantly improved by manure addition in the 7-yr rotation (e.g. BD=H 1.22g/cm3, L 1.33g/cm3; SOM=H 68.1g/kg, L 40.9g/kg) while not in the 4-yr rotation. Manured plots had significantly higher surface (0-5cm) fertility (e.g. P =43.9ppm, K=143.6ppm, pH =5.65) than unmanured plots (e.g. P= 15.2ppm, K=107.4ppm, pH=5.08).
A significant effect of rotation was observed on several soil properties. In the 7-yr rotation, BD was significantly lower (1.15g/cm3) and OM was significantly higher (54.5g/kg) than that of plots in the 4-yr rotation (BD (1.28g/cm3) and SOM (39.5g/kg)). Wet aggregate stability in the 7-yr rotation was significantly higher (5.62mm) than that of plots in the 4-yr rotation (2.32mm).
This research may increase the understanding of the effect of a grass component within organic rotations on soil quality and corn productivity.
See more from this Session: Management Impacts on Soil Properties and Soil C and N Dynamics: III