Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:20:26.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing white clover living mulch for sweet corn production with partial rototilling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Vernon P. Grubinger  and
Peter L. Minotti
Vernon P. Grubinger
Affiliation:
Extension Assistant Professor, University of Vermont Extension Service, P.O. Box 2430, West Brattleboro, VT 05303-2430.
Peter L. Minotti
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Vegetable Crops, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-0327.
Get access

Abstract

Living mulch is a cover crop which is intercropped with a cash crop to protect against soil erosion and structural deterioration without taking land out of production. To avoid interference which reduces cash crop yield, the mulch requires management techniques which minimize resource utilization during the critical period of crop development without killing the mulch outright. The experiments reported here examine non-chemical management innovations in a sweet corn-white clover intercrop system which allow for clover regrowth and also contribute to the N requirement of the corn. In 1986 clover was suppressed by mowing or partial rototilling. Yields of corn in plots where clover was rototilled were comparable to yields of clean cultivated corn and superior to yields from plots where clover was mowed or unsuppressed. In 1987 rototilling was compared at 3 timings after corn emergence. Highest corn yields were obtained by rototilling the well-established clover at 2 rather than 4 or 6 weeks after emergence. Yields from rototilled plots in 1987 exceeded those from clean cultivated plots or plots where clover was unsuppressed. After rototilling, the clover reestablished via stoloniferous growth emanating from a narrow strip of roots which passed between the tiller tines. In both years corn leaf N concentrations were highest in the rototilled plots. In 1987 clean cultivated corn appeared N deficient and had a greater incidence of corn smut than corn from the rototilled clover plots. Multiple corn row arrangements which facilitate access to the mulch were compared at a constant plant population to conventional single rows on 76 cm centers. There were no differences in yield between single and double rows (152 cm centers) in either year, while the triple-row arrangement (228 cm centers) reduced yield in 1987 due to the low productivity of the plants in the middle row of the 3 rows.

Keywords

intercroppingfertilizer nitrogengreen manurerow arrangementcover cropscorn smut
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1990 , pp. 4 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Adams, W. E., Pallas, J. E. Jr., and Dawson, R. N.. 1970. Tillage methods of corn-sod systems in the southern Piedmont. Agron. J. 62:646–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Altier, L. S., and Wien, H. C.. 1988. Intercropping of sods with sweet corn. HortScience 23:805 (abstr.).Google Scholar
3.Bennett, O. L., Mathias, E. L., and Sperow, C. B.. 1976. Double cropping for hay and notillage corn as affected by sod species with two rates of atrazine and nitrogen. Agron. J. 68:250–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Box, J. E. Jr., Wilkinson, S. R., Dawson, R. N., and Kozachyn, J.. 1980. Soil water effects on no-till corn production in strip and completely tilled mulches. Agron. J. 69:383–388.Google Scholar
5.Butler, G. W., Greenwood, R. M., and Soper, K.. 1959. Effects of shading and defoliationon the turnover of root and nodule tissue of plants of Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense, and Lotus uliginosus. N.Z. J. Agr. Res. 2:414–426.Google Scholar
6.Chu, A. C. P., and Robertson, A. G.. 1974. The effects of shading and defoliation on nodulation and nitrogen fixation by white clover. Plant and Soil 41:509–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Donald, C. M. 1963. Competition among crop and pasture plants. Adv. Agron. 15:1–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Elkins, D. M., Vandeventer, J. W., Kapusta, G., and Anderson, M. R.. 1979. No-tillage maize production in chemically suppressed sod. Agron. J. 71:101–105.Google Scholar
9.Geraldson, C. M., Klacan, G. R., and Lorenz, O. A.. 1973. Plant analysis as an aid in fertilizing vegetables. In Walsh, L. M. and Beaton, J. D. (eds.). Soil Testing and Plant Analysis. SSSA, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
10.Greweling, T., and Peech, M.. 1965. Chemical soil tests. Cornell Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 960.Google Scholar
11.Harris, W. 1987. Population dynamics and competition. In Baker, M. J. and Williams, W. M. (eds.). White Clover. C.A.B. International, Wallingford, U.K.Google Scholar
12.Hartwig, N. L. 1974. Crownvetch and notillage crop production for soil erosion control. File No. IVC 10M884 U. Ed. 844–777, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
13.Little, T. M. 1985. Analysis of percentage and rating scale data. HortScience 20:642–644.Google Scholar
14.Lorenz, O. A., and Maynard, D. N.. 1980. Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers. Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.Google Scholar
15.Loy, S. J. W., Pierce, L. C., Estes, G. O., and Wells, O. S.. 1987. Productivity in a strip tillage vegetable production system. HortScience 22:415–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.MacRae, R. J., and Mehuys, G. R.. 1985. The effects of green manuring on the physical properties of temperate area soils. Adv. Soil Sci. 3:71–94.Google Scholar
17.Minotti, P. L., and Sweet, R. D.. 1981. Role of crop competition in limiting losses from weeds. In Pimentel, D. (ed.). Handbook of Pest Management, Volume 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
18.New York State Dept. of Agric, and Markets. 1988. New York Agricultural Statistics. Division of Statistics, Albany, New York.Google Scholar
19.Nicholson, A. G., and Wien, H. C.. 1983. Screening turfgrass and clovers for use as living mulches in sweet corn and cabbage. J. Amer. Hort. Sci. 108:1071–1076.Google Scholar
20.Peck, N. H. 1988. Soil productivity and vegetables. “For your information,” 9/88, Dept. of Hort., Cornell Univ., NY Agr. Expt. Sta., Geneva, New York.Google Scholar
21.Peters, S. E. 1986. Nitrogen interactions in a sweet corn and white clover living mulch production system. M.S. Thesis, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
22.Pomology Depart., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. Nitrogen Analysis by Micro-Kjeldahl. Unpublished.Google Scholar
23.Pieters, A. J. 1927. Green Manuring: Principles and Practices. Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.Google Scholar
24.Reuter, D. J., and Robinson, J. B.. 1986. Plant Analysis, An Interpretation Manual. Inkata Press, Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
25.Rutger, J. N., and Crowder, L. V.. 1967. Effect of population and row width on corn silage yields. Agron. J. 59:475–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.SAS Institute, Inc. 1985. SAS Users Guide: Basics, Version 5 Edition. SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
27.Simpson, J. R. 1965. The transference of nitrogen from pasture legumes to an associated grass under several systems of management in pot culture. Aust. J. Agr. Res. 16:915–926.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Stringfield, G. H., and Thatcher, L. E.. 1951. Corn row spaces and crop sequences. Agron. J. 43:276–281.Google Scholar
29.Sumner, D. R., Doupnik, B. Jr., and Boosalis, M. G.. 1981. Effects of reduced tillage and multiple cropping on plant diseases. Ann. Rev. Phytopath. 19:167–187.Google Scholar
30.Vandermeer, J. 1984. The interpretation and design of intercrop systems involving environmental modification of one of the components: a theoretical framework. Biol. Agr. and Hort. 2:135–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Vrabel, T. E. 1981. The use of legumes as a living mulch crop with sweet corn – feasibility studies. M. S. Thesis, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
32.Vrabel, T. E. 1983. Effects of suppressed white clover on sweet corn yield and nitrogen availability in a living mulch cropping system. Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
33.Wilson, J. K. 1931. The shedding of nodules by beans. J. Amer. Soc. Agron. 23:670–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34.Wilson, J. K. 1942. The loss of nodules from legume roots and its significance. J. Amer. Soc. Agron. 34:460–471.Google Scholar
35.Wyland, J. J. 1986. Competition in living mulch systems. M.S. Thesis, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar