Effects of Legumes and Fertilizer on Nitrogen Balance from Intact Leys and After Tilling for Subsequent Crop [Scientific Paper]

Scientific Paper

27 May

Authors: Nyfeler, D., Huguenin-Elie, O., Frossard, E., Lüscher, A., 2024. Effects of legumes and fertilizer on nitrogen balance from intact leys and after tilling for subsequent crop.

First published in: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 360, 108776

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Highlights:

Grass-clover mixtures are highly productive with little risk of nitrate leaching.
Symbiotic N fixation buffers N inputs in mixtures, which results in N balances close to zero.
With grass-clover mixtures, the risk of nitrate leaching remained low at a total N input of 380 kg per hectare and year.
The risk of leaching was no greater with the mixtures than with the pure grass swards, even after tillage.
With a highly positive N balance, the increase in leaching may not appear until the third year.