Abstract
Grass-clover mixtures show many benefits for sustainable agriculture. In the Netherlands, organic farmers often work together in a so-called partner farm concept, with the aim to close nutrient cycles on a regional level. In this system, arable farms grow one-year grass-clover leys, as fodder for a livestock farm, in exchange for, e.g., manure. This practice could also be used in the transition of conventional farms towards a more circular regenerative and nature inclusive agriculture. In the current experiment we assessed the effect of a range of grass (Lolium perenne: Lp, Lolium multiflorum: Lm) and clover (Trifolium pratense: Tp and Trifolium repens: Tr) monocultures and mixtures on both below- and aboveground parameters in light of benefits for livestock and arable farms, and biodiversity. The grass monocultures showed good weed suppression, high root density, and especially Lp had a positive effect on soil structure. Clover, on the other hand, showed high herbage dry matter yield (particularly Tp) and Nitrogen (N) yield, and Tr showed high digestibility. Moreover, clover had a positive effect on the soil mineral N, and earthworm abundance tended to be higher in the clover monocultures. When (some of) the four species were combined in grass-clover mixtures, they combined the positive effects of the species and often even outperformed the (best) monocultures. We concluded that grass-clover mixtures increased agro-ecological functions.
Highlights
There is increasing pressure on the agricultural sector to increase sustainability and reduce its negative impact in terms of soil degradation, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions and decrease in biodiversity of flora and fauna [1,2]
We conducted a one-year trial in which we investigated the effect of fallow, grass and clover monocultures and different grass-clover mixtures on herbage yield and quality, weed pressure, roots, soil structure, soil mineral N and biodiversity
Transgressive overyielding was accepted if the analysis of variance (ANOVA) or Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that the actual mixture performance was significantly better than the best performing monoculture
Summary
There is increasing pressure on the agricultural sector to increase sustainability and reduce its negative impact in terms of soil degradation, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions and decrease in biodiversity of flora and fauna [1,2]. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of different grass-clover mixtures and monocultures in a one-year ley on both aboveground and belowground parameters in light of the potential benefits of the ley for livestock and arable farms, and biodiversity. To this end, we conducted a one-year trial in which we investigated the effect of fallow, grass (perennial ryegrass and Italian ryegrass) and clover (white and red clover) monocultures and different grass-clover mixtures on herbage yield and quality, weed pressure, roots, soil structure, soil mineral N and biodiversity. Monocultures of clover are expected to have high N yield, N concentration and digestibility of herbage, increased soil mineral N and higher earthworm abundance
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