IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i20p13055-d940256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Italian Ryegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Meadow Fescue as Undersown Cover Crops in Spring Wheat and Barley: Results from a Mixed Methods Study in Norway

Author

Listed:
  • Prabhat Poudel

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Jørgen Ødegaard

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Siri Josefine Mo

    (Norsk Landbruksrådgiving, Osloveien 1, 1433 Ås, Norway)

  • Rebekka Kaald Andresen

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Hans Andre Tandberg

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Thomas Cottis

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Harald Solberg

    (Norsk Landbruksrådgiving, Osloveien 1, 1433 Ås, Norway)

  • Kari Bysveen

    (Norsk Landbruksrådgiving, Osloveien 1, 1433 Ås, Norway)

  • Puspa Raj Dulal

    (Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Bharatpur 44200, Chitwan, Nepal)

  • Hesam Mousavi

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

  • Svein Øivind Solberg

    (Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2322 Ridabu, Norway)

Abstract

Cover crops could provide environmental benefits in spring-grain systems through diversification, reduced nitrate leaching, and carbon sequestration. However, few farmers apply the technique, partly as they believe the cover crops will compete with the main crop and cause yield losses. Cover crops can either be sown together with the grain (undersown) or in autumn and establish after grain harvest. The current study uses a mixed-method approach combining field trials, interviews, and literature synthesis. The field trials focused on perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.), Italian ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum Lam.), and meadow fescue ( Festuca pratensis L.) that were undersown with 15 kg ha −1 but with different seeding dates in spring wheat and barley. The interviews focused on gathering practical experiences from farmers in Norway and the literature synthesis gathered results from other studies. For carbon sequestration, nine studies were judged relevant for our target climate and included in our synthesis. They showed a median value at 264 kg C ha −1 year −1 . In our field trials, 300–900 kg DM ha −1 year −1 was produced, with Italian ryegrass sown at the same date as the grain on top. Our trials showed no significant grain yield reduction due to the use of cover crops. However, our synthesis of the literature showed a 5–10% yield reduction with Italian ryegrass that was sown at the same time as the grain. One- or two-weeks delay in the sowing of Italian ryegrass, or reduced seeding rates, could reduce the problem. The interviews showed that farmers do not prefer undersown species, especially not perennial species, as they have experienced that such species may come up again in the following years and cause a weed problem. We recommend farmers to use cover crops and for undersowing, we recommend Italian ryegrass that is sown one or two weeks after the grain. Perennial ryegrass can also be recommended, as long as the growth is properly terminated.

Suggested Citation

  • Prabhat Poudel & Jørgen Ødegaard & Siri Josefine Mo & Rebekka Kaald Andresen & Hans Andre Tandberg & Thomas Cottis & Harald Solberg & Kari Bysveen & Puspa Raj Dulal & Hesam Mousavi & Svein Øivind Solb, 2022. "Italian Ryegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Meadow Fescue as Undersown Cover Crops in Spring Wheat and Barley: Results from a Mixed Methods Study in Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13055-:d:940256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13055/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13055/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael W. I. Schmidt & Margaret S. Torn & Samuel Abiven & Thorsten Dittmar & Georg Guggenberger & Ivan A. Janssens & Markus Kleber & Ingrid Kögel-Knabner & Johannes Lehmann & David A. C. Manning & Pa, 2011. "Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property," Nature, Nature, vol. 478(7367), pages 49-56, October.
    2. Angelina Sanderson Bellamy & Antonio A. R. Ioris, 2017. "Addressing the Knowledge Gaps in Agroecology and Identifying Guiding Principles for Transforming Conventional Agri-Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Roland Gerhards, 2018. "Weed Suppression Ability and Yield Impact of Living Mulch in Cereal Crops," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-7, March.
    4. Xiaochen Liu & Shuai Wang & Qianlai Zhuang & Xinxin Jin & Zhenxing Bian & Mingyi Zhou & Zhuo Meng & Chunlan Han & Xiaoyu Guo & Wenjuan Jin & Yufei Zhang, 2022. "A Review on Carbon Source and Sink in Arable Land Ecosystems," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alicja Słomka & Małgorzata Pawłowska, 2024. "Catch and Cover Crops’ Use in the Energy Sector via Conversion into Biogas—Potential Benefits and Disadvantages," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akinpelu, O.A. & Olaleye, O. & Fagbola, O., 2023. "The Soil Organic Matter Decomposers: A Bibliometric Analysis," International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research, Malwa International Journals Publication, vol. 9(4), August.
    2. Kristof Dorau & Chris Bamminger & Daniel Koch & Tim Mansfeldt, 2022. "Evidences of soil warming from long-term trends (1951–2018) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Guoai Li & Xuxu Chai & Zheng Shi & Honghua Ruan, 2023. "Interactive Effects Determine Radiocarbon Abundance in Soil Fractions of Global Biomes," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Isabel Teichmann, 2015. "An Economic Assessment of Soil Carbon Sequestration with Biochar in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1476, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Shaw, C.H. & Hilger, A.B. & Metsaranta, J. & Kurz, W.A. & Russo, G. & Eichel, F. & Stinson, G. & Smyth, C. & Filiatrault, M., 2014. "Evaluation of simulated estimates of forest ecosystem carbon stocks using ground plot data from Canada's National Forest Inventory," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 323-347.
    6. Miriam Githongo & Lucy Ngatia & Milka Kiboi & Anne Muriuki & Andreas Fliessbach & Collins Musafiri & Riqiang Fu & Felix Ngetich, 2023. "The Structural Quality of Soil Organic Matter under Selected Soil Fertility Management Practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Miquelajauregui, Yosune & Cumming, Steven G. & Gauthier, Sylvie, 2019. "Short-term responses of boreal carbon stocks to climate change: A simulation study of black spruce forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 409(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Rafaella Campos & Gabrielle Ferreira Pires & Marcos Heil Costa, 2020. "Soil Carbon Sequestration in Rainfed and Irrigated Production Systems in a New Brazilian Agricultural Frontier," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Damien Finn & Kerrilyn Catton & Marijke Heenan & Peter M. Kopittke & Diane Ouwerkerk & Athol V. Klieve & Ram C. Dalal, 2018. "Differential Gene Expression in the Model Actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) Supports Nitrogen Mining Dependent on the Plant Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Felipe Gallardo-López & Mario Alejandro Hernández-Chontal & Pedro Cisneros-Saguilán & Ariadna Linares-Gabriel, 2018. "Development of the Concept of Agroecology in Europe: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, April.
    11. De La Cruz S., Marco & Dessein, Joost, 2021. "Beyond institutional bricolage: An ‘intertwining approach’ to understanding the transition towards agroecology in Peru," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    12. Stavros D Veresoglou & Barry Thornton & George Menexes & Andreas P Mamolos & Demetrios S Veresoglou, 2012. "Soil Fertilization Leads to a Decline in Between-Samples Variability of Microbial Community δ13C Profiles in a Grassland Fertilization Experiment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-8, September.
    13. Ping, Jiaye & Zhou, Jian & Huang, Kun & Sun, Xiaoying & Sun, Huanfa & Xia, Jianyang, 2021. "Modeling the typhoon disturbance effect on ecosystem carbon storage dynamics in a subtropical forest of China's coastal region," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 455(C).
    14. Timothy E. Crews & Brian E. Rumsey, 2017. "What Agriculture Can Learn from Native Ecosystems in Building Soil Organic Matter: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.
    15. Jean-Sébastien Landry & Navin Ramankutty, 2015. "Carbon Cycling, Climate Regulation, and Disturbances in Canadian Forests: Scientific Principles for Management," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, January.
    16. Tipping, E. & Rowe, E.C. & Evans, C.D. & Mills, R.T.E. & Emmett, B.A. & Chaplow, J.S. & Hall, J.R., 2012. "N14C: A plant–soil nitrogen and carbon cycling model to simulate terrestrial ecosystem responses to atmospheric nitrogen deposition," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 11-26.
    17. Dongwei Liu & Shanlong Li & Weixing Zhu & Yongyang Wang & Shasha Zhang & Yunting Fang, 2023. "Storage and Stability of Soil Organic Carbon in Two Temperate Forests in Northeastern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Goncharov, Anton A. & Gorbatova, Anna S. & Sidorova, Alena A. & Tiunov, Alexei V. & Bocharov, Gennady A., 2022. "Mathematical modelling of the interaction of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Fusarium species (Fusarium spp.)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 465(C).
    19. Chin-Chiang Hsu & Heng Tsai & Wen-Shu Huang & Shiuh-Tsuen Huang, 2021. "Carbon Storage along with Soil Profile: An Example of Soil Chronosequence from the Fluvial Terraces on the Pakua Tableland, Taiwan," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, April.
    20. Peyton Ginakes & Julie M. Grossman & John M. Baker & Thanwalee Sooksa-nguan, 2020. "Living Mulch Management Spatially Localizes Nutrient Cycling in Organic Corn Production," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-10, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13055-:d:940256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.