Relations between crop rotation with pea and soil structure

Abstract

Agricultural practices such as crop rotation affect soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Legumes crop effect has been shown to provide several agro-ecological services as previous crop. The aim of the present fi eld study was to examine the effect of legumes in a crop rotation scenario to the soil structure by incorporating green biomass at the fl owering stage of pea. Two fi eld experiments were established in two different soils (sandy and clayey) for three years, where four different nitrogen dressings and three different cultivation practices using pea in rotation were used. Soil samples were collected at two depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm), fi ve times during the experimentation from the establishment till the end. An easier and rapidly soil classifi cation according to the agglomerate stability was used through the coeffi cient of instability β. It was found that in the sandy soil both green and pea rotation had a signifi cant effect on the improvement of the soil structure resulting from the decrease in the β instability index. Improving the soil structure will also lead to higher yields to the following crop. © 2019, Agricultural Academy, Bulgaria. All rights reserved.