Nitrogen balances in farmers fields under alternative uses of a cover crop legume: a case study from Nicaragua

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dc.creatorDouxchamps, Sabine
dc.creatorHumbert, FL
dc.creatorHoek, Rein van der
dc.creatorMena Urbina, Martin A.
dc.creatorBernasconi, S
dc.creatorSchmidt, A.
dc.creatorRao, Idupulapati M.
dc.creatorFrossard, Emmanuel
dc.creatorOberson, Astrid
dc.date2010-12
dc.date2014-10-02T08:32:54Z
dc.date2014-10-02T08:32:54Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T14:41:35Z
dc.descriptionCanavalia brasiliensis (canavalia), a drought tolerant legume, was introduced into the smallholder traditional crop-livestock production system of the Nicaraguan hillsides as green manure to improve soil fertility or as forage during the dry season for improving milk production. Since nitrogen (N) is considered the most limiting nutrient for agricultural production in the target area, the objective of this study was to quantify the soil surface N budgets at plot level in farmers fields over two cropping years for the traditional maize/bean rotation and the alternative maize/canavalia rotation. Mineral fertilizer N, seed N and symbiotically fixed N were summed up as N input to the system. Symbiotic N2 fixation was assessed using the 15N natural abundance method. Nitrogen output was quantified as N export via harvested products. Canavalia derived in average 69% of its N from the atmosphere. The amount of N fixed per hectare varied highly according to the biomass production, which ranged from 0 to 5,700 kg ha?1. When used as green manure, canavalia increased the N balance of the maize/canavalia rotation but had no effect on the N uptake of the following maize crop. When used as forage, it bears the risk of a soil N depletion up to 41 kg N ha?1 unless N would be recycled to the plot by animal manure. Without N mineral fertilizer application, the N budget remains negative even if canavalia was used as green manure. Therefore, the replenishment of soil N stocks by using canavalia may need a few years, during which the application of mineral N fertilizer needs to be maintained to sustain agricultural production.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/43890
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/85610
dc.languageen
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.subjectfeed crops
dc.subjectcanavalia
dc.subjectdrought resistance
dc.subjectnitrogen fixation
dc.subjectfeed legumes
dc.subjecthillsides
dc.subjectnitrogen fertilizers
dc.subjectgreen manures
dc.subjectcase studies
dc.subjectfarmers
dc.subjectcrop rotation
dc.subjectresistencia a la sequía
dc.subjectfijación del nitrógeno
dc.subjectleguminosas forrajeras
dc.subjectladeras
dc.subjectabonos nitrogenados
dc.subjectabonos verdes
dc.subjectrotacion de cultivos
dc.subjectestudios de casos practicos
dc.subjectagricultores
dc.titleNitrogen balances in farmers fields under alternative uses of a cover crop legume: a case study from Nicaragua
dc.typeJournal Article

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