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Five years of straw incorporation and its effect on growth, yield and nitrogen nutrition of sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. F. Allison
Affiliation:
IACR-Broom's Barn, Higham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6NP, UK
H. M. Hetschkun
Affiliation:
IACR-Broom's Barn, Higham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6NP, UK

Summary

In 1990–92, field experiments were performed at Broom's Barn Experimental Station to study the effect of 5 years' repeated straw incorporation on sugarbeet. Straw incorporation had no effect on plant population density. Processing quality was reduced by incorporated straw but N had a much larger effect. The effect of incorporated straw on the mineral N content of the soils and N uptake by beet was inconsistent, and this may be related to the amount of soil mineral N present when the straw was incorporated. The efficiency of fertilizer use was unaffected by straw incorporation. On Broom's Barn soils when straw was incorporated, the optimal economic N dressing was c. 120 kg N/ha, and in unincorporated plots it was c. 100 kg N/ha. At the optimal economic N rate, incorporated straw increased beet yields.

Type
Crops and Soils
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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