Productivity and nitrogen benefits of late-season legume cover crops in organic wheat production

Abstract

Cicek, H., Entz, M. H., Thiessen Martens, J. R. and Bullock, P. R. 2014. Productivity and nitrogen benefits of late-season legume cover crops in organic wheat production. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 771-783. When full-season cover crops are used in stockless organic rotations, cash crop production is compromised. Including winter cereals in rotations can widen the growing season window and create a niche for late-season cover crops. We investigated the establishment and biomass production of relay-cropped red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis L. ‘Norgold’) and double-cropped cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. ‘Iron and Clay’), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.), lentil (Lens culinaris L. ‘Indianhead’), soybean (Glycine max L. ‘Prudence’), pea (Pisum sativum L. ‘40-10’), and oil seed radish (Raphanus sativus L.) as well as wheat response to these crops under reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) at three locations in Manitoba, Canada. Red clover, sweet clover and pea prod...