creators_name: Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian
creators_name: Pedersen, Lene
type: conference_item
datestamp: 2006-05-09
lastmod: 2009-09-09 13:39:50
metadata_visibility: show
title: Cropping systems with winter wheat or spring wheat? Root growth, catch crops, nitrogen leaching and baking quality
ispublished: pub
subjects: 4nutrient
subjects: farm_nutrient_management
full_text_status: public
abstract: In organic farming winter wheat is typically grown after good pre-crops, as it pays well for this in terms of yield and quality. However, winter wheat develops slowly during the autumn, and much nitrate may be lost by leaching before spring. System with catch crops followed by spring wheat, or maybe catch crops intercropped with winter wheat could improve the utilization of the pre-crop effects in wheat cropping. In this experiment we studied wheat and catch crop root growth, crop and soil N dynamics, and effects on yield and baking quality in wheat cropping systems with catch crops.  The results showed that the com-bination of catch crops and spring wheat was ideal for resource use, but also that winter wheat had a much deeper root system (c. 2.0 m) than spring wheat (c. 1.0 m), and that the N loss from the winter wheat crops therefore became smaller than expected. Intercropping systems with catch crops and winter wheat showed some promising results, but they are also very difficult to manage.  


date: 2006
date_type: published
refereed: never
referencetext: Kristensen H L and Thorup-Kristensen K (2004) Root growth and nitrate uptake of three different catch crops in deep soil layers. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 68, 537.

Thorup-Kristensen K. (2001) Are differences in root growth of nitrogen catch crops important for their ability to reduce soil nitrate-N content, and how can this be measured? Plant & Soil 230, 185-195.  


citation: Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian and Pedersen, Lene (2006) Cropping systems with winter wheat or spring wheat? Root growth, catch crops, nitrogen leaching and baking quality. Joint Organic Congress, Odense, Denmark, May 30-31, 2006. *
document_url: http://orgprints.org/7483/1/Paper_for_congress.doc