Farming the Black Earth by Boris Boincean & David Dent

Author:Boris Boincean & David Dent
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030225339
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Crops

Continuous crop

7-field crop rotation

10-field crop rotation

t/ha

±

t/ha

±

t/ha

%

t/ha

%

Winter wheat

2.96

4.46

+1.5

51

5.02

+2.06

70

Sugar beet

13.7

36.0

+22.3

163

37.6

+23.9

175

Corn-for-grain

5.21

5.55

+0.34

7

5.42

+0.21

4

Sunflower

1.52

1.65

+0.13

9

2.10

+0.58

38

Abandonment of extended, diverse crop rotations in favour of short rotations and continuous monocropping was stimulated by the introduction of fertilizers and pesticides , new crop varieties and hybrids, and replacement of draught animals by machines. At the same time, it encouraged an increase the size of fields and farms—large-scale enterprises are more competitive in the market and have been generally supported by governments (Bullock 1992). But the early gains from the new system came at the cost of depleting soil organic matter , degrading soil structure , soil erosion , and accelerated global heating . Experimental data from long-term field experiments worldwide show that it is not possible to compensate for the loss of the rotation effect—even by using fertilizer and high-yielding crop varieties. Crop rotations are not just alternation of crops; they are also systems of tillage and fertilization , integrated pest and weed management, and mechanization; and they are not oriented only towards yield but, also, the restoration of soil fertility . The Norfolk four-course rotation is a good example. The alternation of crops (clover–winter wheat–turnips–spring barley with under-sown clover) is also a farming system in which half of the crops are used for feeding livestock and their manure restores soil fertility .

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