The influence of tillage and crop rotation on nitrogen fixation in lentil and pea

Abstract

Direct seeding into standing stubble and crop diversification are two practices that are becoming widely adopted in western Canada. This study was conducted to determine: i) the influence of zero and conventional tillage on N-fixation in lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) and pea (Pisum sativum L.), and ii) the effect of cropping history on N-fixation in lentil. Data were obtained from a crop rotation experiment being conducted on a silty clay soil in east-central Saskatchewan, which included six cereal-oilseed-cereal-pulse rotations, each managed using zero and conventional tillage practices. The finding showed that N-fixation was 10% higher by lentil and 31% higher by pea when grown using zero tillage as compared to conventional tillage practices. On average, lentil grown in highly diversified crop rotations fixed 12% more nitrogen than when grown in less diversified crop rotations. Key words: Nitrogen fixation, lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), pea (Pisum sativum L.), zero tillage, conventional tillage