A winter intercrop of faba bean and rapeseed for silage as a substitute for Italian ryegrass in rotation with maize

ABSTRACT

In order to combine the ability of legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen and the cruciferous capacities to mobilize soil nutrients and herbicide action, the aim of this work was to evaluate an alternative winter intercrop (faba bean-rapeseed) as a replacement of Italian ryegrass culture in a rotational system with maize as summer crop. For this purpose, two adjacent plots were used during three agronomic years (2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014) to evaluate the agronomic performance through the forage production, nutritional composition of forage and silage, and the effects on soil fertility. The Italian ryegrass was cultivated under conventional management: using chemical fertilization and recommended dosages of herbicides. The faba bean-rapeseed intercrop was cultivated under an alternative management: organic fertilization and less herbicide supply. The intercrop provides higher forage yield per hectare than Italian ryegrass, with greater protein (kg ha⁻¹) and similar energy (GJ ha⁻¹) yields. The intercrop allows reducing the inputs of chemical fertilization and herbicides, and it has a positive effect on the balance of soil nutrients, especially increasing the potassium, calcium and magnesium contents. The results show that faba bean-rapeseed intercrop could be an alternative to the Italian ryegrass as winter crop.

KEYWORDS:

• Rotation
• legumes
• nutritive quality
• soil fertility

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) under grant RTA2011-00112 co-financed with European Regional Development Fund. José D. Jiménez-Calderón is the recipient of an INIA Predoctoral Fellowship. The stay of M. Benaouda was supported by scholarship from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (IAMZ-CIHEAM). The authors would like to thank and acknowledge the work and assistance of the staff of the laboratory of Animal Nutrition (SERIDA). Authors would also like to thank Dr. Víctor Granda García for his participation and collaboration in the process of statistical analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria [RTA2011-00112].