Legume-based catch crops inprove N-supply without increasing the N2O emission

Summary

Legume-based catch crops (LBCCs) may be an important source of nitrogen (N) in organic crop rotations since they are capable of taking up N both from the soil and from the atmosphere via biological N fixation (BNF). Consequently, they may help improve the crop yield through enhancing soil fertility and crop N supply. On the other hand, the legume-based catch crops may also have a negative impact on the climate as they may enhance the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), which is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Therefore, the findings from two research projects HighCrop (Organic RDD 2) and Legume Future (EU-FP7) are promising, as they show that a higher level of N2O emission is not necessarily the consequence of growing LBCC.