Direct sowing of maize in a grass sward
On dairy farms in The Netherlands, grassland (mainly based on Lolium perenne L.) and maize ( Zea mays L.) are the main crops.For economic reasons, both crops are continuously cropped.However continuous maize cultivation leads to a loss of organic matter, soil structure and soil fauna (Van Eekeren et al., submitted).A crop rotation of grass with maize can partly overcome the loss of soil quality caused by continuous cropping but leads on farm level either to a decreased area of maize or to a decreased area of permanent grassland.Maize cultivation after ploughing a perennial grass sward causes nitrate leaching due to high mineralization (De Wit et al., 2006).Direct sowing of maize in a grass sward without ploughing can possibly maintain the soil quality and minimize nitrate losses.Our initial goal in our search for direct sowing techniques was to keep the sward alive by mowing the grass regularly.Experiments in 2004‐2005 showed that even with intensive cutting, yields were suppressed considerably (20‐40％ compared to the control) (Prins et al., 2006).The objective of the present experiment was to determine the yield potential of direct sowing when the grass sward is killed by spraying herbicides before and/or after sowing.
maize silage direct sowing minimal tillage
N.van Eekeren U.Prins
Louis Bolk Institute,Dept.Organic Agriculture,Hoof dstraat 24,N L-3972 LA Driebergen,The Netherlands
国际会议
呼和浩特
英文
2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）