Humusersatzstrategien aus ökonomischer Perspektive: Notwendiges Übel oder gewinnbringende Investition?

Summary

Management measures to maintain or increase soil organic matter (SOM) are generally associated with additional costs and a decreasing profitability of crop rotations. However, certain SOM-enhancing strategies may have the potential to
synergistically optimize also the economic output in the short or long term. We evaluated several crop rotations and green/straw manuring systems on diverging site properties in stockless farm systems for their effects on production economics. Benefits may especially derive from an increased spatio-temporal synchronization of crop nutrient demand and nutrient supply by turning green manures into mobile
fertilizers, which can even result in short term economic benefits. However, as effects do not necessarily show instantly, from an economic point of view SOM-enhancing
measures are proposed to be handled as an investment with a future amortization of instant expenses by stabilizing or improving soil functions and crop yields.