PJB-2019-352
TEMPERATE FORAGE LEGUMES PRODUCTION, WEEDS DYNAMICS AND SOIL CARBON AND NITROGEN ECONOMY UNDER ORGANIC WASTES: A REVIEW ON YIELD GAPS AND TRADE-OFFS
Brandon J. Bethune
Abstract
Environmental pollution caused by leaching and volatilization of mineral fertilizers from agricultural fields especially in temperate climate has aggravated under changing climate. Utilizing organic wastes from poultry sheds and dairy farms for crops production can be a way forward towards their eco-friendly disposal and curbing environmental hazards. This review synthesizes and analyzes the use of organic manures for forage legumes production and their impact on feed value, soil fertility, microbial biomass, weeds infestation and economic turn outs in temperate regions. The feasibility of adopting organic wastes as conventional source of plant nutrients or continuity of their use as a fringe farming activity has also been assessed. The increment in the forage yield of legumes such as white clover, lucerne, red clover, sub-clover, birdsfoot trefoil etc. under chemical fertilizers widened the yield gap between organic and mineral manures management systems. However, organic materials improved the nutritional quality of temperate legumes owing to increased activity of proteinase enzyme, better absorption and utilization of nitrogen and phosphorous, production of effective carboxyl and hydro-carboxyl, ?-glucosidase activity along with the presence of growth promoting hormones. Organic fertilization effectively enhanced soil carbon sequestration and microbial biomass, while labile carbon was increased by mineral fertilizers. However, organic manures recorded higher dry matter of weeds than traditional farming systems which reduced forage yield by 35-50%. Availability at farm, regional and global levels along with nutritional composition, biological viability and economic competitiveness of organic wastes continue to remain challenges in their wide scale adoption as plant nutrients source.
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