Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Mixtures of Legumes with Cereals as a Source of Feed for Animals
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58358
Germination after 4 days
Germination after 8 days
Specifications
yellow
lupine
blue
lupine
yellow
lupine
pea
vetch
pea
vetch
blue lupine
Control
96.7 a*
93.7 a
97.7 a
85.7 a
96.7 a
95.7 a
98.5 a
86.5 a
Wheat
58.0 b
57.5 b
48.2 b
48.2 b
Rotted
74.5 b
51.0 b
48.2 b
Triticale
59.5 b
77.0 c
68.7 c
67.5 c
62.5 b
90.5 a
80.2 c
70.0 c
Oat
95.5 a
92.2 a
95.0 a
77.5 a
96.0 a
95.5 a
98.0 a
79.2 ac
Barley
46.0 b
78.5 c
62.0 c
50.5 b
Mildewed 88.0 c
65.2 b
52.2 b
* Number within columns followed by the same letters do not differ significantly
Table 1.
Influence of cereal root excretions on germination of legume seeds [own study]
Mixtures provide biodiversity resulting from the different morphological characteristics,
physiological and sensitivity of individual components to consecutive sowing, and in the case
of cereals, this method allows to avoid the negative consequences of their too frequent sowing
in the same field and thus reduce the spread of diseases and pests [14].
In recent times, a lot of attention has been paid to the possibility of nitrate leaching from the
soil in the positions of winter crops sown after legumes. Significantly lower losses of nitrogen
occur after crops of legume-cereal mixtures. The studies have shown that pea grown as sole
crop used nitrogen derived from biological fixation in 70%, while in mixed cultivation with
cereals-in 99%, contributing indirectly to potentially smaller losses of this component [15].
Also, lysimetric studies have shown that the level of nitrogen leaching in crops of mixture of
peas with barley was reduced compared with the treatments where these plants were grown
in sole crop. Therefore, in the areas of protection of drinking water, it is recommended to sow
legumes in mixtures with cereals [16, 17].
Seed yield
Pre-crop
Variability of yields in years (%)
t
ยท
ha
-1
%
Yellow lupine
Pea + lupine
Oat + lupine
Oat + peas
Oat
Oat + barley
Oat + triticale
Triticale + barley
5.28
5.17
4.98
4.94
4.79
3.63
3.23
3.17
100
98
94
94
91
69
61
60
3.5
3.8
1.8
3.6
4.5
13.6
17.4
15.6
Table 2.
Yields of winter wheat grown as affected by different pre-crops [21]
Legume-cereal mixtures are a good forecrop for root crops, but especially for cereals. They
enrich the soil with organic matter and nutrients. For example, crop residues of mixtures of
lupine with triticale (straw, stubble and roots) provide 32 kg of nitrogen and 55 kg of potassium
