Green smartly!
Nowadays, successful arable farming no longer depends only on choosing the right crop rotation, seed, crop protection technology, rational nutrient management or tillage system, but also, to a large extent, on farmers’ knowledge of finance, accounting and law.
We may often feel that the laws and regulations governing production and the payment of various subsidies are a maze that keeps us from fully devoting ourselves to our true vocation.
Perhaps we also think that one of these mazes is ‘greening’ (Decree 10/2015. (III.13.) FM),
which is aimed at agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment.
What if that were not the case? What if, living up to the saying we often quote among ourselves – “we have not inherited the land from our parents, we have borrowed it from our grandchildren” – we selected the greening plants (and mixtures of them) best suited to our soils, our nutrient management, our machinery and the crops we grow, thereby creating “rational greening”?
This article has a twofold purpose: on the one hand, it briefly introduces a few plant species that have been a firm component of intensive crop production systems abroad for decades (on their own or in mixtures), including as catch crops and green manure crops; on the other hand, using a comprehensive table, it seeks to help ensure that catch crops grown on ecological focus areas are managed in a truly rational way.
Did you know, for example, that
grass pea is a cultivated crop so drought-tolerant that it is a staple food and animal feed in the driest regions of Africa? What is more, no other plant fixes as much atmospheric nitrogen in such a short time: 80–120 kg N per hectare within 8–10 weeks. Trials around the world have shown that on fields sown with grass pea as a main crop instead of being left fallow, the following crops can produce a whopping 40–50% higher yield. This yield increase can still reach 20–30%(!) when grass pea is grown as a second crop! And did you also know that
lupin and faba bean, in addition to loosening the soil, mobilise the phosphorus (P), manganese (Mn) and other micronutrients bound and stored in different soil layers so efficiently that, together with fixing large amounts of atmospheric nitrogen, they can increase the yield of the following crops by 10–20%?
Hungarian vetch starts actively fixing nitrogen as early as 5(!) days after emergence? Several trials have shown that its effect on the following crop can result in a yield increase of 5–15%. Thanks to its allelopathic and weed-suppressing properties, few weeds survive in vetch fields.
a compound called sorgoleone, secreted by the roots of the highly drought-tolerant Sudan grass (a sorghum species), inhibits the germination and shoot-tip growth of common ragweed, pigweed, velvetleaf, nightshade and certain plantain and sorrel species? Its deep-reaching roots do an excellent job of aerating and breaking up the soil, while its above-ground parts, when incorporated green, have a nematicidal effect and increase soil organic matter! Thanks to these winning qualities, it makes an excellent partner in various mixtures. Last but not least, Sudan grass is a versatile forage with excellent nutritional value.
Based on my production experience at home and abroad, I can say with confidence that these plants make a significant contribution to the long-term protection of our soils and, last but not least, always have an indirect positive effect on production results in the following crop.
One of the cornerstones of the conscious, precision-based and sustainable farming of the future is ‘greening’!
The table below provides brief guidance on how the components of greening mixtures made up of different species complement each other’s effects.