Abstract

Intensification and specialization of farming systems in Europe and elsewhere has resulted in poor crop rotations, with low plant and animal diversity. This has resulted in more uniform landscapes, soil carbon loss and low efficiency in nutrient cycling, particularly in regions dominated by annual crops. Inclusion of ley in crop rotations is expected to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, nitrogen availability and improve soil physical properties. The effect of ley-arable rotations versus continuous annual cropping on soil quality, soil organic carbon and soil biology was assessed by summarizing and discussing results from publications from long-term experiments in Norway and Sweden. These studies support the hypotheses that the inclusion of leys in crop rotations promotes soil fertility and carbon sequestration in Northern Europe, supplies nutrients to subsequent crops and improves soil physical properties. However, one or two years of ley in rotations may not be enough for maintaining SOC and good soil structure over time. For keeping the relatively high SOC concentrations occurring at many sites in Northern Europe, the proportion of ley in rotation should be at least 50%.

Keywords

biological diversity; grasses; legumes; nitrogen; soil fertility; soil organic matter

Published in

Grassland Science in Europe
2023, number: 28, pages: 115-124
Title: The future role of ley-farming in cropping systems : Proceedings of the 22nd Symposium of the European Grassland Federation Vilnius, Lithuania 11-14 June 2023
eISBN: 978-609-451-008-3
Publisher: Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry

Conference

Proceedings of the 22nd Symposium of the European Grassland Federation Vilnius, Lithuania 11-14 June 2023

SLU Authors

• Kätterer, Thomas

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/123604