Using legumes to enhance nitrogen fertility and improve soil condition in cotton cropping systems

Abstract

Many Australian cotton growers now include legumes in their cropping system. Three experiments were conducted between 1994 and 1997 to evaluate the rotational effects of winter or summer legume crops grown either for grain or green manuring on following cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Non-legume rotation crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum) and cotton, were included for comparison. Net nitrogen (N) balances, which included estimates of N associated with the nodulated roots, were calculated for the legume phase of each cropping sequence. Faba bean (Vicia faba — winter) fixed 135–244 kg N ha−1 and soybean (Glycine max — summer) fixed 453–488 kg N ha−1 and contributed up to 155 and 280 kg fixed N ha−1, respectively, to the soil after seed harvest. Green-manured field pea (Pisum sativum — winter) and lablab (Lablab purpureus — summer) fixed 123–209 and 181–240 kg N ha−1, respectively, before the crops were slashed and incorporated into the topsoil. In a separate experiment, the loss of N from 15N-labelled legume residues during the fallow between legume cropping and cotton sowing (5–6 months following summer crops and 9 months after winter crops) was between 9 and 40% of 15N added; in comparison, the loss of 15N fertilizer (urea) applied to the non-legume plots averaged 85% of 15N added. Little legume-derived 15N was lost from the system during the growth of the subsequent cotton crop. The improved N fertility of the legume-based systems was demonstrated by enhanced N uptake and lint yield of cotton. The economic optimum N fertilizer application rate was determined from the fitted N response curve observed following the application of N fertilizer at rates between 0 and 200 kg N ha−1 (as anhydrous ammonia). Averaged over the three experiments, cotton following non-legume rotation crops required the application of 179 kg N ha−1, whilst following the grain- and green-manured legume systems required only 90 and 52 kg N ha−1, respectively. In addition to improvements in N availability, soil strength was generally lower following most legume crops than non-legume rotation crops. Penetrometer resistance during the growth of the subsequent cotton crop increased in the order faba bean, lablab, field pea, wheat, cotton, and soybean. It is speculated that reduced soil strength contributed to improvement in lint yields of the following cotton crops by facilitating the development of better root systems.