The impact of nitrogen in red clover and lucerne swards on the subsequent spring wheat

Summary

The red clover and lucerne swards and their accumulated nitrogen (N) in residues can be useful tool in organic arable systems. Spring wheat grain yield was affected by red clover/ryegrass and lucerne/ryegrass swards and was significantly higher than that after ryegrass sward, except for lucerne/ryegrass sward after cover crop barley for whole crop. Protein content in wheat was sufficient for the grain to be used for food production. These results indicate that red clover and lucerne can contribute to the intensification of spring wheat growing in organic farming, not only by increasing yields, but also by improving quality.