Influence of non – chemical weed control on sugar beet productivity and quality parameters

A long – term stationary field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University (ASU) in 2017. The aim was to evaluate the impact of non – chemical weed control systems on the ecologically growing sugar beet crop productivity and quality parameters. It was examined these weed control systems: 1) inter – row loosening (control treatment); 2) inter - row cutting and mulching with weeds; 3) inter - row cutting and mulching with Persian clover; 4) inter - row cutting and mulching with white mustards; 5) inter - row cutting and mulching with spring barley. Sugar beet was seeded in 2017 May 8 and harvested of in October 19. The highest productivity (50.65 t ha-1) got the sugar beet, which was growed by applying inter - row cutting and mulching with white mustards. The lowest (30.46 t ha-1) productivity of sugar beet was in treatments, where was applying inter - row cutting and mulching with spring barley (P<0.01). Different weed control methods had mainly insignificant influence on sugar beet quality parameters – potassium, sodium and alpha amino nitrogen contents. The highest sugar content (16.34 %) was in beet, that grown in treatments, where was applied inter - row cutting and mulching with spring barley (P<0.05)Vytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

The influence of non-chemical weed control methods on sugar beet productivity and quality parameters

Tyrimų tikslas – ištirti necheminių piktžolių kontrolės metodų poveikį ekologiškai auginamų cukrinių runkelių produktyvumo ir kokybiniams rodikliams. Tyrimai atlikti 2017 m. Aleksandro Stulginskio universiteto (nuo 2019 m. – Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Žemės ūkio akademija) bandymų stotyje. Tirtos necheminės piktžolių kontrolės sistemos: tarpueilių purenimas (kontrolinis-palyginamasis variantas), tarpueilių išpjovimas ir mulčiavimas piktžolėmis, tarpueilių išpjovimas ir mulčiavimas baltosiomis garstyčiomis, tarpueilių išpjovimas ir mulčiavimas persiniais dobilais ir tarpueilių išpjovimas ir mulčiavimas vasarinais miežiais. Taikant alternatyvias piktžolių kontrolės priemones iš esmės mažėjo cukrinių runkelių derlingumas, tačiau mulčiuojant baltosiomis garstyčiomis šio rodiklio sumažėjimas nebuvo esminis. Necheminės piktžolių kontrolės priemonės esminės įtakos cukrinių runkelių kalingumui, natringumui ir alfa aminoazoto kiekiui dažniausiai neturėjo. Esmingai didžiausias cukringumas (16,34 ir 16,26 %) buvo nustatytas cukrinių runkelių, kurie užaugo naudojant tarpueilių mulčiavimą vasariniais miežiais ir piktžolėmis ( P < 0,05). Nors neesminis, tačiau didesnis runkelių lapų ploto indeksas nustatytas tuose eksperimento laukeliuose, kuriuose buvo taikytas tarpueilių išpjovimas ir mulčiavimas baltosiomis garstyčiomis. Lyginant nechemines piktžolių kontrolės sistemas, didžiausias baltojo (kristalinio) cukraus kiekis (4,96 t ha –1 ) gautas iš tų cukrinių runkelių šakniavaisių, kurie užauginti taikant tarpueilių mulčiavimą baltosiomis garstyčiomisA long-term stationary field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis Uni - versity (Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy since 2019) in 2017. The following sustainable weed control methods were examined: 1) inter-row loosening (control treatment); 2) inter-row cutting and mulching with weeds; 3) inter-row cutting and mulching with Persian clover; 4) in - ter-row cutting and mulching with white mustards; 5) inter- row cutting and mulching with spring barley. The alternatives to weed control often reduced the yields of sugar beet roots significantly, however, when mulching with white mustard the decrease in fertility was not essen - tial. Non-chemical weed control measures in most cases had an insignificant effect on the parameters of sugar beet qua - lity – the content of Na, K and alpha-amino N. The most significant sugar content (16.34 and 16.26%) was found in sugar beets, which were grown applying inter- row mulch of spring barley and weed ( P < 0.05). Although insignificant, but the largest index of sugar beet leaf area was found in the experimental plots, where inter-row cutting out and mulching with white mustard were applied. Compar - ing non-chemical weed control systems, the highest amount of white (crystalline) sugar (4.96 ha –1 ) was derived from the sugar beet that was grown using white mustard mulchAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

The impact of intercropping on soil fertility and sugar beet productivity

There is a lack of research on the practice of intercropping sugar beet and the impact of such agrocenoses on soil and crop fertility, especially under organic farming conditions. For this reason, a three‐year stationary field experiment was performed at Vytautas Magnus University, Agriculture Academy, Lithuania. Sugar beet was grown continuously with intercropped Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum L., MC), white mustard (Sinapis alba L., MM) and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L., MB) as a living mulch. Inter‐row loosening (CT) and mulching with ambient weeds (MW) were used as comparative treatments. The results showed that, under minimal fertilization, CT and intercropping increased the average content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil. However, the average content of magnesium was reduced in single cases (MW, MB), and the average content of sulphur was reduced in all cases. Intercropping significantly decreased the yields of sugar beet root‐crop, but was mainly neutral in quality terms. The meteorological conditions during experimentation had a weak impact on root‐crop quantity and quality. Generally, the practice of sugar beet intercropping requires more detailed research on how to minimize the competition between the sugar beet, living mulch and weeds, and how to balance the nutrition conditionsAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Pasėlių įvairinimas piktžolių kontrolei

Agronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

The Energy and Environmental Evaluation of Maize, Hemp and Faba Bean Multi-Crops

Agriculture uses a lot of fuel, fertilizers, pesticides and other substances, while emitting large amounts of GHGs. It is important to optimize these inputs and outputs. One such way is by increasing crop biodiversity. For this reason, single crops and mixtures of maize, hemp and faba bean as binary and ternary crops were investigated at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. The results showed that consumption of diesel fuel was 31–46% higher than in single and 22–35% higher than in binary cultivations was found in a ternary crop. This had influence on the highest energy input of near twice higher than in maize and hemp single crops and maize+hemp binary crop, but similar with binary crops with faba bean. Despite this, the productivity of the ternary crop and, at the same time, the energy output were 2–5 times higher than in other treatments. This compensated for higher energy inputs and the energy efficiency ratio. In the ternary crop, energy productivity was from 1.1 to 2.8 times higher and net energy was 1.9–5.3 times higher than in other tested cultivations. The highest total GHG emissions were obtained in binary maize+hemp and maize+faba bean cultivations (1729.84 and 2067.33 CO2eq ha−1). Ternary cultivation with the highest energy inputs initiated average GHG emissions of 1541.90 kg ha−1 CO2eq. For higher efficiency, the ternary crop could be sown and harvested in one machine pass. Faba beans should be included in ternary crops, as their biomass makes up a significant part of the total biomass produced. We recommend reviewing the intercropped faba bean seeding rates, as faba bean seeds have a high energy input equivalent

The impact of weed control methods on sugar beet crop

The effect of non-chemical weed control on organically grown sugar beet crop productivity and quality was tested at the Experimental Station of the Aleksandras Stulginskis University in 2015-2016. The aim of the experiment was to ascertain the influence of living mulch,mechanical (mellowing, cutting, mulch-ing) and physical (steaming) weed controlmethodson sugar beet productivity and quality parameters. There were tested 6 weed control methods: inter-row mellowing(controltreatment), cutting and mulch-ing with weeds, Persian clover, white mustard and spring barley, inter-row steaming. Different alternative weedcontrol methods usually had negative significant impact on the sugar beet crop yield except inter-row steaming treatment. In these plots,decrease of root yield was insignificantly less compared with control treatment. The effect of weed control methods onsugar beet root quality parameters was weakAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Influence of non - chemical weed control methods on sugar beet productivity and quality parameters

Weed control in organic farming conditions is complicated and requires extra expenses. There are many different non-chemical weed control methods but some of them are not effective enough. For this reason, a long-term stationary field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University (ASU) in 2017-2018. The following sustainable weed control systems were tested: 1) inter-row loosening (control treatment); 2) inter-row cutting and mulching with weeds; 3) inter-row cutting and mulching with Persian clover; 4) inter-row cutting and mulching with white mustards; 5) inter-row cutting and mulching with spring barley. The fertility of sugar beets was determined by weighing clean roots. Their roots ramification was determined by counting all the branched beets in the sample. Amounts of Na, K, a-amino N and sugar content were determined in the laboratory of Kedainiai sugar factory (the stock company "Nordic Sugar Lietuva"). To determine the photosynthetic parameters, the sugar beet leaves were scanned by the Delta T Scan scanner, taking 3 leaves from each experimental plot. Sugar beet processing parameters, namely, sugar content in molasses, sugar output and white sugar yield were calculated according to standard formulas. The alternatives of weed control often reduced the yields of sugar beet substantially; however, when mulching with white mustard, the decrease in fertility was not essential. In most cases, non-chemical weed control measures had insignificant effect on the parameters of sugar beet quality: the content of Na, K and a-amino N. The most significant sugar output (16.34% and 16.26%) was found in sugar beet roots, which were grown applying inter-row mulch of spring barley and weed (P <0.05). Comparing non-chemical weed control systems, the highest amount of white (crystalline) sugar (4.96 t ha"1) was derived from the sugar beet that was grown using white mustard mulchVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij

Investigation of Pressed Solid Biofuel Produced from Multi-Crop Biomass

The paper presents the preparation and use of pressed solid biofuel of multi-crop plants (fibrous hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.)) as mono, binary and trinomial crops. The results of the investigation show that three main chemical elements (carbon, oxygen and hydrogen) accounted for 93.1 to 94.9% of the biomass pellet content. The moisture content varied from 3.9 to 8.8%, ash content from 4.5 to 6.8% and calorific value from 16.8 to 17.1 MJ&middot;kg&minus;1. It was found that the density (DM) of all variants of pellets was very similar; the faba bean biomass pellets had the highest density of 1195.8 kg&middot;m&minus;3 DM. The initial ash deformation temperature (DT) of burning biomass pellets was detected, which varied from 976 to 1322 &deg;C. High potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) concentrations were found in all types of biomass ash. The quantities of heavy metals in pellet ash were not large and did not exceed the permissible values according to Lithuanian legislation. These chemical properties of multi-crop biomass ash allow them to be used in agriculture for plant fertilization

The Biomass Productivity of Maize, Hemp and Faba Bean Multi-Crops

Crop biomass is valuable not only from a nutritional and fodder point of view, but also from an energetic point of view. The main task is to increase biomass production while maintaining low nutrient and pesticide requirements and low ecological footprint. A stationary three-year field experiment was performed at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, in 2020–2022. Single crops and mixtures of maize, hemp, and faba bean were investigated in terms of their biomass productivity. Results showed that as the crop diversification increases, the productivity of maize and hemp grown in the mixture decreases, while faba bean ensures high dried biomass productivity. During the three years of the experimentation, the highest total dried biomass was found in the ternary crop: on average, 1495.4 g m−2 per year. The highest dried biomass of the ternary crop was established in the first year of experimentation: 2081.1 g m−2. A decrease in biomass yields in the second and third years of the experiment was observed in all treatment plots. The results suggest that the low fertilization level (totally N 45, P 45, K 45 kg ha−1) in the experiment should be increased if multi-crop cultivations are to be regrown during vegetative seasons

Investigation of Pressed Solid Biofuel Produced from Multi-Crop Biomass

The paper presents the preparation and use of pressed solid biofuel of multi-crop plants (fibrous hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.)) as mono, binary and trinomial crops. The results of the investigation show that three main chemical elements (carbon, oxygen and hydrogen) accounted for 93.1 to 94.9% of the biomass pellet content. The moisture content varied from 3.9 to 8.8%, ash content from 4.5 to 6.8% and calorific value from 16.8 to 17.1 MJ·kg−1. It was found that the density (DM) of all variants of pellets was very similar; the faba bean biomass pellets had the highest density of 1195.8 kg·m−3 DM. The initial ash deformation temperature (DT) of burning biomass pellets was detected, which varied from 976 to 1322 °C. High potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) concentrations were found in all types of biomass ash. The quantities of heavy metals in pellet ash were not large and did not exceed the permissible values according to Lithuanian legislation. These chemical properties of multi-crop biomass ash allow them to be used in agriculture for plant fertilization