Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-wbk2r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-23T11:27:40.102Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of High Yielding Perennial Herbage Crops on Biological Degradation and Nitrate Accumulation in Peat Soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

D. Levanon ,
I. Levin ,
T. Kipnis  and
U. Cohen
D. Levanon
Affiliation:
MIGAL, Kiryat Shmona, 10200, Israel
I. Levin
Affiliation:
Institute for Soils and Water, ARO Volcani Centre, Bet-Dagan, Israel
T. Kipnis
Affiliation:
Institute for Soils and Water, ARO Volcani Centre, Bet-Dagan, Israel
U. Cohen
Affiliation:
Institute for Soils and Water, ARO Volcani Centre, Bet-Dagan, Israel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Perennial crops, guinea grass and alfalfa, and annual crops, wheat and cotton, were grown in the reclaimed Hula Valley swamp. The aim was to find ways to preserve the peat soil from aerobic oxidation, wind and water erosion; to minimize nitrate accumulation, which causes pollution of the waters draining into the Kinneret Lake (Sea of Galilee); and to select high yielding crops that both fulfilled these needs and ensured a good income for the farmers. Our results showed that high dry matter yields of guinea grass and alfalfa could be obtained. A significant decrease in peat soil erosion and nitrate accumulation was also recorded under these perennial crops, so growing them has both economic and ecological advantages.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 1987 , pp. 69 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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

REFERENCES

Avnimelech, Y., Dasberg, S., Harpaz, A., & Levin, I. (1978). Prevention of nitrate leakage from the Hula Basin in Israel: A case study in watershed management. Soil Science 125: 233–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levanon, D., Henis, Y., Okon, Y. & Dovrat, A. (1979). Alfalfa roots and nitrogen transformation in peat. Soil Biology Biochemistry 11: 343–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levanon, D., Henis, Y., Okon, Y. & Dovrat, A. (1982). Effect of alfalfa saponins and moisture on bacteria and fungi active in nitrogen transformations in peat. Soil Biology Biochemistry 14: 501–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, I. & Shoham, D. (1968). Subsidence in the reclaimed Hula swamp area of Israel. Israel Journal of Agricultural Research 18: 15–18.Google Scholar
Levin, I. & Lesham, I. (1978). Using forage crops to reduce nitrate accumulation in Hula peat soils. Plant and Soil 11: 419–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, I. & Shoham, D. (1983). Surface elevation loss in the reclaimed Hula swamp area of Israel during the period 1958–1980. Publ. Congress of Peat in Agriculture and Horticulture. Bet Dagan, 1983.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1971). The digestibility and voluntary intake of six varieties of Panicum. Australian Journal Experimental and Animal Husbandry 11: 18–25.Google Scholar