Fertigation can allow both to match fertiliser application and N crop requirements at any crop growth phase and to improve the fertilisation efficiency by localization close to the roots. Cover crops are a powerful tool for N management and for limiting the risk of N leaching. Within a sound strategy for a conservative horticulture, fertigation and winter cover crops could be suggested as complementary tools in order to guarantee both adequate vegetable crops N nutrition and environmental benefits. A 2-year field experiment was carried out on processing tomato fertilised by different methods: green manuring of winter cover crops (i.e. hairy vetch and barley as pure stands or mixtures), fertigation, green manures+fertigation. Pure vetch cover crop was able to supply a considerable amount of nitrogen to match N requirement of a subsequent crop of processing tomato, without significant differences with fertigation, applied alone or in combination with winter cover crops. Pure vetch green manure showed a low risk of N leaching during tomato crop cycle but it was poorly effective in reducing the N leaching during the fall-winter period. Incorporation of cover crops with high C/N as pure barley and mixture barley-vetch, although supplied very low amount of N for a subsequent tomato crop, contributed to fix N into the soil and it reduced the environmental impact related to the mobility of nitrogen along the soil profile during fall-winter period and crop fertigation.
Fertigation and winter cover crops as complementary tools for the N nutrition of processing tomato
FARNESELLI, Michela;TOSTI, GIACOMO;BENINCASA, Paolo;GUIDUCCI, Marcello;TEI, Francesco
2013
Abstract
Fertigation can allow both to match fertiliser application and N crop requirements at any crop growth phase and to improve the fertilisation efficiency by localization close to the roots. Cover crops are a powerful tool for N management and for limiting the risk of N leaching. Within a sound strategy for a conservative horticulture, fertigation and winter cover crops could be suggested as complementary tools in order to guarantee both adequate vegetable crops N nutrition and environmental benefits. A 2-year field experiment was carried out on processing tomato fertilised by different methods: green manuring of winter cover crops (i.e. hairy vetch and barley as pure stands or mixtures), fertigation, green manures+fertigation. Pure vetch cover crop was able to supply a considerable amount of nitrogen to match N requirement of a subsequent crop of processing tomato, without significant differences with fertigation, applied alone or in combination with winter cover crops. Pure vetch green manure showed a low risk of N leaching during tomato crop cycle but it was poorly effective in reducing the N leaching during the fall-winter period. Incorporation of cover crops with high C/N as pure barley and mixture barley-vetch, although supplied very low amount of N for a subsequent tomato crop, contributed to fix N into the soil and it reduced the environmental impact related to the mobility of nitrogen along the soil profile during fall-winter period and crop fertigation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.