IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i23p10725-d1538385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Different Species and Cultivars of Broad Beans, Lupins, and Clovers Demonstrated Varying Environmental Adaptability and Nitrogen Fixation Potential When Cultivated as Green Manures in Northeastern Portugal

Author

Listed:
  • Peltier Aguiar

    (Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Laboratório para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Instituto Superior Politécnico do Cuanza Sul (ISPCS), Rua 12 de Novembro, Sumbe P.O. Box 82, Angola)

  • Margarida Arrobas

    (Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Laboratório para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal)

  • Ezar Alfredo Nharreluga

    (Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Laboratório para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza (ISPG), Lionde, Chokwé P.O. Box 1, Mozambique)

  • Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues

    (Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
    Laboratório para a Sustentabilidade e Tecnologia em Regiões de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal)

Abstract

The success of growing legumes as green manure depends on their spatial and temporal integration within agroecosystems, which minimizes competition with cash crops, and on their nitrogen (N) fixation potential. This study evaluated seven legume species for biomass production, N fixation, and suitability for use in cropping systems in northern Portugal. Oats ( Avena sativa L.) were grown to estimate the N fixation using the difference method, as a non-legume reference crop is required for this purpose, and oats are widely grown in the region. The study was conducted over four cropping cycles (2021–2024) in two climate zones across four land plots. The results indicated that the biomass production and N fixation varied by the species/cultivar and cropping cycle, which was significantly influenced by spring precipitation. Broad beans ( Vicia faba L.) failed to develop in one cycle on highly acidic soil (pH 4.9), showing negative N fixation values when calculated by the difference method. Conversely, the lupins maintained a relatively high level of N fixation across all the conditions, demonstrating strong environmental adaptability. Thus, the N fixation values across the four cycles ranged from −5.4 to 419.4 kg ha −1 for broad bean (cv. Favel), while yellow lupin ( Lupinus luteus L.) exhibited average values between 204.0 and 274.0 kg ha −1 . The percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) ranged from −13.3 to 91.6, −39.4 to 85.8, 83.8 to 94.7, 74.9 to 94.3, 72.8 to 92.2, 23.1 to 75.8, and 11.7 to 21.7 for these species/cultivars. Due to their environmental adaptability, biomass production, and N fixation capacity, these legumes could be used as green manure in inter-rows of woody crops or in summer annual crops like tomatoes and maize, grown in winter as an alternative to fallow land. The lupins showed strong promise due to their environmental resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Peltier Aguiar & Margarida Arrobas & Ezar Alfredo Nharreluga & Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues, 2024. "Different Species and Cultivars of Broad Beans, Lupins, and Clovers Demonstrated Varying Environmental Adaptability and Nitrogen Fixation Potential When Cultivated as Green Manures in Northeastern Por," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10725-:d:1538385
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10725/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10725/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. H.W. Scherer & E. Feils & P. Beuters, 2014. "Ammonium fixation and release by clay minerals as influenced by potassium," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 60(7), pages 325-331.
    2. Abednego Kiwia & David Kimani & Rebbie Harawa & Bashir Jama & Gudeta W. Sileshi, 2019. "Sustainable Intensification with Cereal-Legume Intercropping in Eastern and Southern Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Beining Lei & Juan Wang & Huaiying Yao, 2022. "Ecological and Environmental Benefits of Planting Green Manure in Paddy Fields," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kleyson A. de Freitas & Rai S. Lemos & Marcelo T. de Castro, 2025. "Identification of Insects in Crotalaria spp. in an Urban Experimental Area at Brasília, Brazil," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 17(2), pages 1-30, January.
    2. Jun Sugai & Naoya Takashima & Koki Muto & Takatoki Kaku & Honoka Nakayama & Naomi Asagi & Masakazu Komatsuzaki, 2024. "Effects of Cover Crops on Soil Inorganic Nitrogen and Organic Carbon Dynamics in Paddy Fields," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Luca Tricarico & Andrea Galimberti & Ausilia Campanaro & Chiara Magoni & Massimo Labra, 2020. "Experimenting with RRI tools to Drive Sustainable Agri-Food Research: The SASS Case Study from Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Huang, Dan & Lu, Yanchi & Liu, Yaolin & Liu, Yanfang & Tong, Zhaomin & Xing, Lijun & Dou, Chao, 2024. "Multifunctional evaluation and multiscenario regulation of non-grain farmlands from the grain security perspective: Evidence from the Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    5. Bai, Dongbei & Jain, Vipin & Tripathi, Mamta & Ali, Syed Ahtsham & Shabbir, Malik Shahzad & Mohamed, Mady A.A. & Ramos-Meza, Carlos Samuel, 2022. "Performance of biogas plant analysis and policy implications: Evidence from the commercial sources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Soni Isnaini & Maryati & A. Arivin Rivaie, 2023. "Comparison of potassium quantity-intensity relationships in tropical paddy soil under tillage and no-tillage systems after fifteen growing seasons," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(1), pages 1-9.
    7. Paulo Dimande & Margarida Arrobas & Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues, 2024. "Intercropped Maize and Cowpea Increased the Land Equivalent Ratio and Enhanced Crop Access to More Nitrogen and Phosphorus Compared to Cultivation as Sole Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-16, February.
    8. Dorothy Birungi Namuyiga & Till Stellmacher & Christian Borgemeister & Jeroen C. J. Groot, 2022. "A Typology and Preferences for Pigeon Pea in Smallholder Mixed Farming Systems in Uganda," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Hongmi Koo & Janina Kleemann & Christine Fürst, 2020. "Integrating Ecosystem Services into Land-Use Modeling to Assess the Effects of Future Land-Use Strategies in Northern Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-24, October.
    10. Josefa López-Marín & Miriam Romero & Amparo Gálvez & Francisco Moisés del Amor & Maria Carmen Piñero & José Manuel Brotons-Martínez, 2021. "The Use of Hydromulching as an Alternative to Plastic Films in an Artichoke ( Cynara cardunculus cv. Symphony) Crop: A Study of the Economic Viability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10725-:d:1538385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.