Nitrogen fertilization strategies for organic wheat production: Crop yield and nitrate leaching
Nitrogen fertilization strategies for organic wheat production: Crop yield and nitrate leaching
复制标题
DOI:
10.2134/agronj2015.0464
复制
发表时间:
2016-03
期刊:
影响因子:
2.1
通讯作者:
G. Tosti;M. Farneselli;P. Benincasa;M. Guiducci
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
G. Tosti;M. Farneselli;P. Benincasa;M. Guiducci
Agronomy Journa l • Volume 108 , I s sue 2 • 2016 Common wheat is the most important crop for human nutrition in Europe and in other temperate regions worldwide (FAOSTAT, 2014). At present, in addition to the needs of enhanced sustainability and reduced levels of external inputs, wheat production is also facing the threat of an increased occurrence and magnitude of adverse and extreme agro-climatic events (Asseng et al., 2015; Trnka et al., 2014). Th e implementation of solid agrobiodiversity strategies (Costanzo and Bàrberi, 2014), together with the recoupling of global biochemical C and nutrient cycles (Drinkwater and Snapp, 2007) in such a framework have the potential to improve the wheat production process in both organic and conventional, low input systems. Th e holistic approach to the entire cropping system management certainly represents the most informative one (Mäder et al., 2002). Nevertheless, detailed fi eld studies on specifi c aspects of crop management remain essential for the fi ne tuning of concrete guidelines for farmers and policymakers (Bengtsson et al., 2005). Among the several aspects of organic wheat production, N management is crucial (Bilsborrow et al., 2013), particularly for autumn-sown wheat in the Mediterranean area, as low organic matter content in the soil, low temperatures, and high autumn– spring rainfall can cause very low levels of available mineral N in the soil during most of the crop cycle (Fagnano et al., 2012). In conventional agriculture, the use of split application of mineral N fertilizers has been shown to increase fertilization effi ciency and the harvest index of wheat (Blandino et al., 2015; FuertesMendizábal et al., 2010). In organic farming, side dressing fertilization is not commonly used and the management of N fertilization is normally based on: (i) increasing the presence of legumes in the crop rotation (Th omsen et al., 2013), (ii) broadcasting organic compounds before sowing (Mazzoncini et al., 2015; Petersen et al., 2013) and (iii) adopting cereal-legume intercropping (Pelzer et al., 2012). An improvement in the use of legume crops represents the most promising option for the achievement of farm N self-suffi ciency (Amosse et al., 2014; Farneselli et al., 2013). However, when an organic source of extrafarm N (i.e., agroindustry by-products) is easily available, then it may be both convenient and environmentally sound to rely on that source (Drinkwater and Snapp, 2007; Entry et al., 1997). Every year, millions of tonnes of animal by-products are produced worldwide; for instance, the rendering industry Organic Agriculture & Agroecology