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Summer rotations reduce fertilizer use
Nov. 18, 2008
Joe Muscat, BSES best management practice officer, says a recent rotation cropping field day brought together growers and advisors to exchange information on crops such as corn, soybeans and sunhemp.
"Mackay district cane growers are actively working to reduce unnecessary fertiliser applications for the good of both the environment and individual farm profitability," Mr Muscat said.
"One of the key strategies for achieving this is to fix nitrogen in the soil using legume crops such as soybeans between cane crops."
Research by the Sugar Yield Decline Joint Venture (SYDJV) over the last decade has proved the benefits of well-managed legume crops and moving away from the long term monoculture of sugarcane.
BSES principal researcher Alan Garside says the significant improvement to soil health alone is enough to justify a legume rotational crop, but increases in soil nitrogen is an added benefit.
"The organic material from the legume crops breaks down and releases mineral nitrogen into the soil," Dr Garside said.
"These mineral forms of nitrogen are the same as those resulting from commercial 'inorganic' fertiliser inputs.
"There is no real difference so far as the crop is concerned whether the nitrogen source is legume or commercial fertiliser.
"The amount of nitrogen available to the succeeding sugarcane crop will be dependent on the type of legume, how well it was grown and whether the grain was harvested."
Mr Muscat says legume fallows make good economic sense and encourages individual growers to calculate the benefits for their farm business.
"Including a break from continuous cane at the end of each crop cycle and the growing of well managed legume crop during the break is part of what we call the ‘new or improved farming system’," he said.
"The other principles are reduced tillage and wider row spacing allowing for controlled traffic systems.
"The improved farming system has the potential to significantly reduce farming costs, improve soil health and arrest sugarcane yield decline."
The use of the component parts of the new farming system are described in a booklet entitled SmartCane Fallow and Land Management.
This booklet, which forms part of the SmartCane Best Management Practices series, will be made available this month by BSES Limited, CANEGROWERS and the Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency.
Source: Fairfax Media
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