Rotating peanut into established bahiagrass pastures: identifying sustainable tillage operations

ABSTRACT

Integrating bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flueggé) into peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production systems can improve soil structure, and increase peanut yield. A study was conducted in 2012 and 2013 in north Florida to evaluate practices for planting peanut into bahiagrass with three tillage methods i.e.; strip till (ST), ST and high residue cultivation (ST/HRC), and conventional (CT) tillage. Tillage times were 30 d before planting (DATE1) and at planting (DATE2). Peanut grown under CT outyielded ST/HRC (6940, 6580, and 6370 kg ha⁻¹ for CT, ST, and ST/HRC, respectively), but there was no difference in economic return across treatments (adjusted revenue avg. = US $2478 ha⁻¹). Tillage DATE2 increased total root length compared with DATE1, particularly for CT and ST. The ST/HRC had increased total root length below 30 cm for DATE1. When peanut was planted into bahiagrass, conservation tillage practices maintained adjusted revenue comparable with CT while providing environmental benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Adjusted revenue
• conventional tillage
• crop rotation
• high residue cultivation
• strip tillage

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Gyeongsang National University [The Fund of Research Promotion Program].