@misc{orgprints5465,
           title = {Yield responses and nutrient utilization with the use of chopped grass and clover material as surface mulches in an organic vegetable growing system},
          author = {Hugh Riley and Anne-Kristin L{\o}es and Sissel Hansen and Steinar Dragland},
            year = {2003},
           pages = {63--90},
          volume = {21},
         journal = {Biological Agriculture and Horticulture},
       publisher = {A B Academic Publishers},
        keywords = {mulch, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, cabbage, red beet, stockless systems},
             url = {https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/5465/},
        abstract = {Trials were performed with red beet and white cabbage in 1998-2001 to assess the effects on yields and nutrient utilization of surface mulch (chopped grass and/or red clover). No other nutrients were applied. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents were measured in mulch, saleable products and above-ground plant residues. A single mulch application of about 12 Mg DM ha-1 increased the yields of both crops significantly. Mean yields of saleable products were increased from 27 to 33, and from 44 to 56 Mg FW ha-1 of red beet and white cabbage, respectively. However, the average apparent recoveries of mulch derived nutrients in above-ground plant parts (calculated by subtraction of uptakes in the control treatment) were only 13\%, 14\% and 18\% of N, P and K, respectively. Some 3-10\% of the N supplied in mulch was found as mineral N at 0-60 cm soil depth after harvest, and in late autumn approximately half of the P and all the K supplied was found as P-AL or K-AL (ammonium lactate and acetic acid) plus acid-soluble K in the topsoil. Mulch application also increased the yield level of spring cereals grown in the following year by on average 0.6 Mg ha-1, or 20\%. }
}