Abstract
The goal of the European Nitrate Directive 91/676/CEE is to mitigate or prevent water pollution associated with the nitrogen (N) cascade. Vegetable crops have a high risk of nitrate leaching during autumn and winter. Information about the fate of N from artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus (L.)) residues is reviewed and then supplemented with a three-year study with 15N-labelled residues in an artichoke-cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. cv. botrytis) rotation in six lysimeters. After three years, 6% of N in artichoke residues was leached, 8% was exported by crops, while 86% remained in the lysimeter. Summed over the rotation, 16% of artichoke-residue N was absorbed by artichoke and 14% by cauliflower. Total aboveground N uptake by all crops during the entire rotation ranged from 370 to 534 kg N ha−1, of which 207–311 kg N ha−1 returned to the soil as residues. Increasing N-recycling efficiency and reducing the risk of N leaching while conserving crop productivity requires capturing N mineralized from soil organic N. Cauliflower performs this capture effectively during the drainage period. A break crop should be introduced after the first and second harvests of artichoke to further synchronize N mineralization and uptake and reduce leaching risk during the rotation.
Highlights
Nitrogen (N) fertilizers have increased the yield and quality of vegetable crops and thereby stimulated their genetic progress
Vegetable crops require (1) high N availability to achieve the product quality required by market demand and (2) frequent tillage, which increases soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization, leading to a high risk of N leaching during rainy periods
Due to the experimental design, the main features of crop production were observed on each lysimeter but not during the same year or with the same amount of artichoke residues
Summary
Nitrogen (N) fertilizers have increased the yield and quality of vegetable crops and thereby stimulated their genetic progress. In many agricultural areas of the world, increased nitrate loading of surface waters and groundwater has contaminated drinking water resources and caused eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal marine ecosystems [1,2]. High soil nitrate concentrations come from high fertilization or mineralization of soil organic matter (SOM), which releases N that at times is out of sync with crop needs. Vegetable cropping systems have short-term production cycles and long-term rotations. Vegetable crops require (1) high N availability to achieve the product quality required by market demand and (2) frequent tillage, which increases SOM mineralization, leading to a high risk of N leaching during rainy periods
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