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Conference paper2022Peer reviewed

Crop rotation effect on red clover persistence in mixed grass-clover leys

Bergqvist, Sanna; Bergkvist, Göran; Forkman, Johannes; Parsons, David; Nilsdotter-Linde, Nilla

Abstract

Red clover persistence is critical for the production and quality of grass-clover leys. It is affected by management and diseases that cause decline over time. In the long-term field experiment R8-71, established in Sweden in the 1950s, red clover was included in a grass-clover mixture in different cropping systems across three sites. The grass-clover mixture was established by undersowing in barley in six-year crop rotations; the barley was followed by two, three or five years of ley. We investigated whether red clover persistence decreased with increased proportion of grass-clover in the rotation. The proportion of clover in the first harvest year decreased with each crop rotation cycle in the five-year ley (P=0.032), but no such effect was found with the other rotations. The three-year ley did not decrease the rate of red clover decline compared to the five-year ley within a crop rotation cycle on a yearly average. For both crop rotations, the red clover decline started to be noticeable in the second harvest year. Results indicate that longer breaks between leys could improve clover proportion the first harvest year, but not persistence the following harvest years.

Keywords

Trifolium pratense; red clover proportion; cropping systems; long-term field experiment; performance; root rot

Published in

Title: Grassland at the heart of circular and sustainable food systems : Proceedings of the 29th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation Caen, France 26-30 June 2022
ISBN: 978-2-7380-1445-0, eISBN: 978-2-7380-1446-7
Publisher: Organising Committee of the 29th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation:INRAE

Conference

29th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation Caen, France 26-30 June 2022