18th
NITROGEN
WORKSHOP
lHE NITROGEN CH/U.LENGE:
BUILDING A BLUEPRINT FOR NITROGEN
USE EFFICIENCY AND FOOD SECURITV
18th Nitrogen Workshop
PROCEED!NGS
Lisbon, Portugal, 30th June - 3rd July 2014
Editor: Cláudia M. d. S. Cordovil
I I NS T ITUTO
(I ~ SUP ERIO R 8
~
AGRONOMIA
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ISA Press
Suggested citation: Author(s), 2014. Title. ln: Cordovil C. M. d. S. (Ed.).
Proceedings of the 18'" N itrogen Workshop - The nitrogen cha\lenge: building a
blueprint for nitrogen use efficiency and food security. 30'" June - 3'" July 20 14,
Lisboa, Portugal, pp. nn-nn.
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The opinions expresseel anel arguments employed in this publication, as well
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resp onsibility of the au thors an d do not necessarily renect those of the ISA
nor th e Editor.
GROWTH AND NITROGEN RECOVERY lN THE
ABOVE-GROUND BJOMASS OF ELEVEN
SELF-RESEEDING ANNUAL LEGUMES GROWN
lN A RAINFED OLlVE ORCHARD
M. ARROBAS I, LQ. FERREIRA. I, S. FREITAS I, P. DIMANDE ' ,
J.M. PIRES I, MA RODRIGU ES I
I
Moun lain Research Centre (CI MO), Polylechnic Inst itule Df Bragança,
Bragança, PORTUGAL, :1 Escola Superior de Desenvolvimento Rural,
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Vilankulos, MOZAMBIQUE
e-mail : angelor@ipb. pt
Most of the traditi onal dry-farmed olive orehards o f the NE of POItugal are
planted in shal!ow soils on sloping terrain. The ol ive yields obta ined are usually \O\\' ,
du e to lhe severe environmental constraints under whi ch these o rchards are growll.
Growing oli ve trees in such hard conditions, ma)' recommend the managemenl af the
orchards as organ ic, a low -i nput fa rming system from wh ich lhe funn er profít ca n a ri se
[rom the appreciati on af the price of the oli ve o il. The natural so il fe rti liry of th ese
orchards is us ually very low, be ing nitrogen the most limiting nutrient lO lhe growth of
the trees (Rod ri gues CI aI., 201 J). Objectively, to manage these orchards as organic
and to mai nta in the sai! CertiJity and lhe tree nutrition al status in an acccptable leve i,
there is a single o plion: lhe introductiol1 af legume specics as cover crops. Leg umes
can access atmospheri c N:h due lo lhe symbiotic relati onship lhat lhey can estabJi sh
wit h ni trogen-fixing bacteria (Russell e, 2008). ln thi s work eleven sclf-reseeding
annua l legumes \Vere introduced ill a rainfed olive orchard in arder to te st {heir
suitability to be used as covel" crops. Thc leg ume spec ies/vn ri eti es were growll as pure
stand and managcd wilhoul grazi ng, s ince currently lhe fa rmers of lhe rcgion are n Ol
raising animaI s. Data 011 dry marter yield, nitrogcn rccovery and pcrs istcnce oC the
sown species are present ed.
Materi"ls "mi Methods
The fi eld trial took place in M irande la (NE POl1ugal) in an olive orchard 01' - 20 years
o ld. The olive orchard is install ed in a Leptoso l I03my tcxturcd , pH ac id and low
org~ni c martel" contcnt. The c1 imate is of Mediterrancan type. ln the autuml1 of 2009
\Vere SOWIl the fo ll owing e levcn species/varieti cs: Ornilhuphus cOl11fJressl/s L. cv.
Charano , o. sativus Srot. cvs. Eri ca and Margurita, TrifoliulII subterranelll11 L. ssp
subter ranCu171 Kalzll. and Morly cvs. Da!keith, Scaton Park, Denmark and N un garin,
T. r esupinoful/1 L. ssp r esffpinatul1l Gib and Be lli cv. Prol ific, T incamatUI11 L. cv.
Contca, T. miche/ial1l111/ Savi cv. Frontier and Biserrula pelecil1l1s L. c\'. Mauro. Secd
rates varicd according to that recol1lmended fo r eac h species/varieties. T he area of the
individual plots was 49 111 2 (3 replications per treatment). DI{ malter yield was
determined in May, by cuttin g lhe biomass of a gr id oCa 0. 25 111- . The samp les \Vere
oven-dried at 70 oe and ground. Nitrogen conccntration in lhe dried samplcs was
detcnni ned by a Kj elcbhl procedure. N itrogen recave ries were cstil11 atcd from ti ssuc
nitrogen concentrntions anel dl)' malter yie lds.
Results and Discussion
B. pelecil7 l1s cv. Mauro showed vel)' low nitrogell recoveries s ince the first year due to
a vel)' lo\\' rate of seed pcrmination. Ni trogen recovcl)' by T incarnalU/1/ cv. Conlea
exceeded 450 kg N ha- in t\te four grow ing seasons. The c\'s. of T. sublerranellll1
IR I
yiclelcd nitrogen recoveries close lo 200 kg N ha-! (cvs. of shol1 growing cycle,
Nungarin anel Dalkeith) and close to 300 kg N ha-! (the longer grow ing cycle cuhi vars!
Denmark and Seaton Park). The cvs. of o. salivus produced hi gher nitrogen recovery
va lucs (- 300 kg N ha-I ) than o. compress /ls CV. Charano (264 kg ha-'). T.
l71ichelianwn exceeded 300 kg N ha-I , wllereas T. resupinG/w/1 just surpassed 200 kg N
ha-J • Most species/varieties reach ed the higher nitrogen recoverics in the fi rst growing
season (sprin g of 20 I O). The fourth growing season was also good for seve ral
species/varietics whcreas the third was the worst tor aIJ ofthem.
3 . pe-:~\:!Uus c\". )' lauro \- =c::::l
O. compressus \:,.. Charano .1
O. satinls c,·. ::rica
o. satinlS ::í·. )'Iarguríta
1. mcarnanun :: .... Comea ,
T. micheila.!lU.m L,. ?rontler j
1.
SUb~;:r~~;;;:~rnS~~t~~C;::~
1
T. $ubterraneum c-... DelUl1ark 1
1. Stlbte-rra."l!wn ::..... Da,keith 1
1. subterraneum C,·. ;\Wll<a.!ru. -j
-
? éS
!
j
,
•
o
tOO
1
::00
300
-100
500
Figure I. Nitrogen recavery in thc above-ground biamass af eleven legume
species/vari etics grown in pure stands in a rainfed olive orchard during foul" consecut ive
growing seasons.
The first growing seaso n was highly fa vorable to the establishment and growth of
th e sowed legumes species. Also the absence of grazi ng allowed lhe formati on or a
great seed bank from the first year, leading lo a good establishmcnl of the swa rd s in
lhe second growing seaSOl1. The climate conditions in the second ycar \Vere 11 0 t 50
fa vorable, with lcss rain during spring. ln the third year, the first big probjcm occurred.
lt was obscrvcd a false break (germination-inducing a rainfall event late in August
followcd by dealh fram sevcre draught during September). The fal se break associatcd
to the increase in soil ferti lity, as a result of two consecutive seasons or lhe growth or
lhe legume species, has creatcd an opportunity for \Vceds. ln lhe third yea r the swa rd
appeared dominated by Rattail Fcscue (VII/pia myuros). At the end of the third year;t
was feared the end orthe sown legumes. The autumn ofthe fOUl1h year was again very
favorable for legume seeds gennination and plant growth. ln spring 20 13, the
dominance of most of the sown legume species/yarieties was restored. ln sU11lmary,
most species/varieti es are able to persist for long-term in this environment. Farmers
should chose the most appropriate for rainfed or irrigated orchards taken into account
their N fixing capabili ty and the length oftheir growing cycles_
Rodrigues MA, Cl ai. 2011. COlTImun. Soil Se i. Plant Anal. 42, 803-8 14.
Russelle MP 2008. ln: Nilrogcn in agricultural systems. Schepers JS, RauJ1 WR (EJs.).
Agronomy monograph nO49. ASA, eSSA, SSSA, Madison, Wis., USA. pp. 281-359.
ISZ