Use of green manure in organic farming

Abstract

Green manure is an important source of replenishment the missing amount of organic and mineral fertilizers for modern agricultural enterprises. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the role of green manure crops in increasing soil fertility and crop productivity. The plowing of the green mass of the under-cover clover for green manure provided the optimum values of volumetric mass, porosity and air capacity, as well as higher moisture content in the soil layer of 0-30 cm. The intensity of cellulose decomposition in winter wheat crops 4 months after plowing of clover in the soil layer of 0-10 cm was 52.3%, of 10-20 cm was 50.9%. Subsequently, the yield of winter wheat according to the variant with clover green manure was higher than without green manure. The intensity of the negative impact of burning straw on soil fertility indicators depends on its mass, stubble moisture, and topsoil. Plowing straw and applying nitrogen fertilizers under the stubbly green manure crop-spring rape-contributed to an increase in organic matter, which positively affected the quality and yield of potato tubers. On average, for 3 years, the combined use of straw, nitrogen fertilizers and green manure contributed to obtaining the largest potato crop, while the increase in comparison with control was 34.0%.