Abstract
Vegetable crop production, which is expanding worldwide, is managed extremely intensively and is therefore raising concerns about soil degradation. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of using rye mulch as a conservation practice on nutrient availability for lettuce grown in histosols. The rye cover crop was established in the fall of 2018 at two cultivated peatland sites. The following summer, lettuce crops were planted at both sites on the rye mulch cover and on control plots. Lysimeters were used to extract the soil solution once a week during lettuce growth. Various soil properties were analyzed in the soil sampled at the end of the lettuce growing season. The rye yield was higher at site 1 than at site 2 and the lettuce growth was reduced at site 1 under the rye mulch treatment. The rye mulch reduced mineral N and dissolved organic N availability at both sites. The N dynamics in histosols might be fast enough to supply the lettuce needs; however, the implantation difficulties must first be overcome to confirm that hypothesis. At the end of the lettuce growth period, soil total and active C pools and soluble organic soil N in the rye mulch treatment sample were significantly higher at site 1 than at site 2. The presence of rye mulch improved the carbon pool over a single growing season. The use of rye mulch as a soil conservation practice for vegetable crop production appears promising for histosols; however, more work is needed to gain a better understanding on the long-term effects of decomposing rye mulch and roots on soil nutrient availability, soil health and C sequestration, and on the nitrogen uptake pathways and growth of cash crops. Future works which would include consecutive years of study at multiple sites are also needed to be able to confirm and generalize the observations found in the present work.
Highlights
Vegetable crop production is expanding rapidly worldwide [1], due in part to health guidelines that recommend increasing vegetable consumption, in addition to a growing interest in how the human diet impacts climate change [2,3]
The use of rye mulch as a soil conservation practice for vegetable crop production appears promising for histosols; more work is needed to gain a better understanding on the long-term effects of decomposing rye mulch and roots on soil nutrient availability, soil health and C sequestration, and on the nitrogen uptake pathways and growth of cash crops
Future works which would include consecutive years of study at multiple sites are needed to be able to confirm and generalize the observations found in the present work
Summary
Vegetable crop production is expanding rapidly worldwide [1], due in part to health guidelines that recommend increasing vegetable consumption, in addition to a growing interest in how the human diet impacts climate change [2,3]. The same is true for vegetable production on cultivated peatland. Cultivated peatland (organic soils, histosols) in Canada constitutes an important part of the agricultural economy. In Quebec, Canada, there is a lot of natural peatland throughout the territory [5], the cultivated peat soils are mostly in the southwest area, due to the favorable climate and the proximity of the markets of Montreal and the East Coast of the United States [6]. The area plays an essential role in the production of high-value vegetable crops, such as Daucus carota (carrots), Lactuca sativa (lettuce), and Allium cepa (onion), supplying fruits and vegetables to Canada and the northeastern United States [5]. Cultivated peatlands can be highly productive, but are very
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