Using legume-based mixtures to enhance the nitrogen use efficiency and economic viability of cropping systems.

Summary

There is a pressing need to develop arable cropping systems that are both more efficient in their use of nitrogen (N) and more resilient to an increasingly variable and unpredictable climate. One potential solution is to use species-rich mixtures of grasses and legumes in the fertilitybuilding phase of a ley/arable crop rotation. These mixtures may reduce N losses and increase productivity of the following crop. They may also have other important benefits such as increased in-field biodiversity. In this project, legume and grass species with a range of tolerances to different environmental conditions, and with differing growth characteristics, are being grown individually and as a mixture across the UK, and their performance assessed.