RGL6: Rotations with Grain Legumes
Objectives
1. To identify the long-term effects of acidification on plant growth and soil chemical and structural decline.
2. To determine the long-term sustainability of cereal-legume rotations compared with continuous wheat and continuous lupin rotations.
Key activities in current program
This site is used to examine the effects of a long-term continuous legume crop on acidification of the soil (Table 2). Soil acidification was identified in the surface 30cm soil layer where pH had declined by 1.5 units over a 15 year period. RGL6 is proving invaluable for the continued understanding of soil acidification processes under cereal and legume crops. In addition, the potential value of monoculture crops (continuous wheat and lupins) cannot be underestimated given the long-term results found at Rothamstead on similar rotations. Increasingly, it is showing the value of including a reliable legume in a crop rotation for N nutrition. However, there can be accelerated acidification rates where legumes are included in crop rotations due to nitrate leaching, C-cycle and product removal in wheat and lupin crops.
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