Green manures improve water storage

Weather extremes have become increasingly severe in the Netherlands in recent years. With periods of prolonged drought and extremely heavy precipitation becoming more frequent, the water storage capacity of the soil is more important than ever.

The soil structure, together with the amount of organic matter, determines the water storage capacity of a soil. An inventory in 2015 showed that soil compaction occurs on 45% of all Dutch plots. This disrupts crop growth and makes fields more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions:

• The infiltration capacity of a compacted soil is lower, so that in the event of heavy precipitation, water remains on the land more quickly and for a longer period of time;
• On and in a compacted soil, vertical transport of rainwater shifts to horizontal, causing nutrients and crop protection to wash off more quickly;
• A compacted soil can store less moisture and is therefore sensitive to drought.

Eliminate compaction with green manures
The prevention and restoration of soil compaction is therefore fully in the spotlight and rightly so. Arable farmers work on soil quality in many different areas, and smart use of the right green manures is one of them.

green manures deliver organic matter, which improves the crumb structure and increases water storage. In addition, green manures with intensive rooting can eliminate soil compaction and double the water infiltration. The green manure crops in a construction plan with a normal fertilization standard contribute to 2,8 millimeters (sand) and 5,4 millimeters (clay) extra water storage in the construction furrow (source: CLM Research and Advice).

Intensively rooting green manures
There are large differences in rooting depth and intensity between the types of green manure crops, as can be clearly seen in the image. fodder radish is the best structure improver of all common green manure crops, with a thick taproot that breaks open the furrow and fine hair roots that root up to 2 meters deep, the deepest of all green manure crops. Facelia roots shallowly but quite intensively and makes the furrow airy and crumbly.

The new green manure mixtures LG NEMAREDUX (in case of nematode problems) and LG ORGAMAX combine the deep and superficial rooting of various types of green manure crops, for optimal rooting in the entire soil.

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