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.
2013
9789040303463
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1157273
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