Leaching of Nutrients in Luvisol as Affected by Catch Crops and Straw
The aim of this work was to determine the impact of green manure (Trifolium pratense L, Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) straw on filtration of precipitation and leaching of chemical elements (N, K, Ca, Corg) in Haplic Luvisol. The lysimetric data during 1987– 2008 was used in the study. Lysimetric equipment surface area was 1.75 m2; the test soil layer is 0.60 m.Catch crops reduce precipitation filtration by 7.0-8.3 % on average. Insertion in autumn of straw and catch crops increases the concentration of N, Ca and K and Corg in lysimeter waters. Substantial increase in concentration takes place mostly during the first months after insertion and in warm and rainy autumn period. Due to lower precipitation of catch crops the loss of Ca and K, as compared with unfertilized soil, did not substantially increase, and the Corg decreased from 10.6 to 8.3-8.5 kg ha-1 TOC.
