Intensifying a semi-arid dryland crop rotation by replacing fallow with pea

David C. Nielsen and Merle F. Vigil

Agricultural Water Management, 2017, vol. 186, issue C, 127-138

Abstract: Increasing dryland cropping system intensity in the semi-arid central Great Plains by reducing frequency of fallow can add diversity to cropping systems and decrease erosion potential. However elimination of the periodic fallow phase has been shown to reduce yields of subsequent crops in this region. The objective of this experiment was to determine how productivity of a 4-yr WCMF rotation [wheat (W, Triticum aestivum L.); corn (C, Zea mays L.); proso millet (M, Panicum miliaceum L.); fallow (F)] was affected when the fallow phase was replaced with pea (P, Pisum sativum L.). The effect of this intensification of the WCMF rotation on the available soil water content at planting, the water use, and the yield of each crop, and on total system productivity and net income was quantified by analyzing data over a 20-yr period from a long-term crop rotation experiment at Akron, CO. Large year-to-year variations were found for available soil water at planting, water use, and yield for all four crops. Pea water use resulted in significant reductions in available soil water at planting, water use, and yield for wheat and corn, but had little effect on those quantities in the millet crop. Total production on a seed mass basis was not different between the WCMF and WCMP rotations, but system net income for the WCMP rotation was 32% lower than for WCMF. Intensification of the WCMF rotation by replacing the fallow phase with pea production could be recommended as an alternative production method if pea seed costs and nitrogen fertilizer applied to the subsequent wheat crop can be reduced.

Keywords: Wheat; Corn; Proso millet; Pea; Water use; Dryland cropping system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377417300781
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:186:y:2017:i:c:p:127-138

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2017.03.003

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().