Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Mixtures of Legumes with Cereals as a Source of Feed for Animals
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58358
cereals harvested for green matter was almost two-times higher compared to those harvested
in full maturity stage. Regardless of the time of harvesting of the cover crop, the highest yields
of serradella green matter were obtained at undersowing into spelt wheat. [85, 86].
Harvest for green matter
Harvest for grain
Specification
yield of cereal DM
(t·ha -1 )
green matter of
serradella (t·ha -1 )
yield of cereal
grain (t·ha -1 )
green matter of
serradella (t·ha -1 )
Spelt wheat
4.54
2.61
Spelt wheat+serradella
5.32
9.26
2.69
5.02
Winter rye
4.97
2.33
Winter rye+serradella
5.59
7.42
2.06
4.67
Oat
8.36
4.08
Oat+serradella
8.21
7.34
3.99
4.15
Spring barley
6.27
3.26
Spring barley+serradella
8.46
8.13
2.54
4.67
Table 13. Yield of cereals in sole crop and intercropped with serradella depending on the harvest time of cover crop
[own study]
Serradella undersown into cereals increases the content of total nitrogen and organic carbon
in the soil as compared to the contents before sowing of serradella. Furthermore, the amount
of nitrogen at harvesting cereals for seeds is higher than at harvesting for green matter. A
longer growing period of legumes grown for seeds contributes to a more efficient fixation of
atmospheric nitrogen. The process of mineralization of aging roots, nodules as well as leaves,
flowers and pods which fell from the lower layers of legumes is started, and nitrogen and other
components are released into the soil [86, 87].
6. Conclusions
The cultivation of mixtures of legumes and cereals offers a number of potential agronomic
benefits. Coming from two different plant families, legumes and cereals complement each
other in the capture of resources. Cereal crops growing in the vicinity of legumes benefit
from nitrogen assimilated by legume root nodule bacteria. Increasing the supply of nitrogen
by applying fertilizer caused in a substantial reduction of fixation of atmospheric nitrogen
by legume crops. Mixtures are particularly relevant to the exploitation of poorer soils which
are unsuitable for the production of either component grown as a sole crop. Yielding of the
mixtures is highly dependent on the species and proportion of component. The share of le‐
gumes in the seed mixture in terms of seed number is recommended to range from 30 to
50%. Total seed yield of mixtures decreases with increasing share of legume seeds in sow‐
 
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