Cover crops as nitrogen source

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cover_crops_as_nitrogen_source

Christina Curell, Michigan State University Extension - April 1, 2015

Learn how cover crops can produce Nitrogen for your fields.

Cover Crops can be used to produce Nitrogen. The following charts rates
legumes/kacang2an as a nitrogen source and gives nitrogen production from
common cover crop species.

The reasons why farmers use cover crops are as varied as the number of
species that can be used as a cover crop. Traditionally cover crops were used
for erosion control but in the past few years’ cover crops have been used for
other purposes.

Nitrogen is necessary for all plant growth. Legumes have the ability to “fix”
nitrogen from the air and store it in nodules/bintil2 in their roots. This nitrogen
can be released or use by subsequent crops.
Nitrogen diperlukan untuk semua pertumbuhan tanaman. Legum memiliki kemampuan untuk
"mengikat" nitrogen dari udara dan menyimpannya dalam bintil-bintil di akarnya. Nitrogen ini dapat
dilepaskan atau digunakan oleh tanaman berikutnya.

The following chart rates typical legume cover crops grown in Michigan for its
nitrogen fixation tendencies. Do not confuse nitrogen scavenging for nitrogen
fixing. These are different concepts that will be addressed and I will address
them in a subsequent article. 
Tabel berikut memeringkat tanaman penutup tanah kacang-kacangan yang ditanam di Michigan karena
kecenderungan fiksasi nitrogennya. Jangan bingung antara pemulung nitrogen dengan pengikatan
nitrogen. Ini adalah konsep berbeda yang akan dibahas dan saya akan membahasnya di artikel
berikutnya.

Excellent Very Good Good Fair

Berseem Clover Crimson Clover  
Cowpea Red Clover
Field Pea  
Hairy Vetch  
Sweet Clover
White Clover

Chart information taken from Managing Cover Crops Profitably third

edition,  SARE  Handbook Series 9.

There have been many research studies conducted to determine how much
nitrogen cover crops produce. There are many factors that determine how
much nitrogen can be credited to cover crop. For that reason a large range for
nitrogen credit is given, see chart below. It is very important to take a good
soil sample if you plan to use cover crops as a nitrogen source. It is also
advisable to follow up with a plant tissue analysis to ensure that you have
enough nitrogen for production.  
Telah banyak studi penelitian yang dilakukan untuk menentukan berapa banyak tanaman penutup tanah
nitrogen yang dihasilkan. Ada banyak faktor yang menentukan seberapa banyak nitrogen dapat
dikreditkan untuk tanaman penutup. Oleh karena itu, sejumlah besar kredit nitrogen diberikan, lihat
bagan di bawah. Sangat penting untuk mengambil sampel tanah yang baik jika Anda berencana
menggunakan tanaman penutup tanah sebagai sumber nitrogen. Dianjurkan juga untuk menindaklanjuti
analisis jaringan tanaman untuk memastikan bahwa Anda memiliki cukup nitrogen untuk produksi.

Cover Crop Lb./A *

Mustard 30-120
Radish 50-200
Rapeseed 40-160
Berseem Clover 75-220
Cowpea 100-150
Crimson Clover 70-130
Field Pea 90-150
Hairy Vetch 90-200
Red Clover 70-150
Sweetclover 90-170
White Clover 80-200
* Total Nitrogen from the entire plant

Chart information taken from Managing Cover Crops Profitably third

edition,  SARE  Handbook Series 9.

For more information or to help decide what cover crop will be best for your
farm contact Michigan State University Extension educators Christina
Curell, curellc@anr.msu.edu or Paul Gross, grossp@anr.msu.edu. More
information can also be found at the Midwest Cover Council website.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For

more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of
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visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area,
visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).