Instant Insights: Crop rotations

Chapter 1 - Effects of crop rotations and intercropping on soil health: Gilbert C. Sigua, USDA-ARS, USA; 1 Introduction 2 Defining soil health 3 Indicators of soil health 4 The roles of soil organic matter in soil health 5 Managing soil health: crop rotation 6 Managing soil health: intercropping 7 Nitrogen fixation and transfer in crop rotation and intercropping 8 Summary and future trends 9 Where to look for further information 10 References
Chapter 2 - The role of crop rotations in organic farming: Bernhard Freyer, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria; 1 Introduction 2 Principles of crop rotation 3 Precrop effects in crop rotations 4 Nutrient effects of legumes and other rotation crops 5 The role of rotation crops in suppressing weeds, diseases and pests 6 Rotations and crop yields 7 Designing a crop rotation 8 Measuring and modelling crop rotations, nutrient and humus balances 9 Crop rotations on stockless farms 10 Conclusion and future trends 11 Where to look for further information 12 References and further reading
Chapter 3 - Modeling crop rotations: capturing short- and long-term feedbacks for sustainability and soil health: B. Basso and R. A. Martinez-Feria, Michigan State University, USA; and B. Dumont, University of Liege, Belgium; 1 Introduction 2 Reset mode crop models: the example of mitigating nitrate loss from corn-based crop rotations 3 Sequential crop models: the example of adapting crop rotations to sustain yields and soil health under climate change 4 Conclusion: improving crop rotations through modeling 5 References
Chapter 4 - Developing decision-support systems for crop rotations: Zia Mehrabi, University of British Columbia, Canada; 1 Introduction 2 Key information challenges 3 Ecological theory 4 Agronomic models 5 Encoding farmer decisions 6 Design principles 7 Outlook 8 Where to look for further information 9 References
Chapter 5 - The role of crop rotation, intercropping and tillage practices for foliar disease management of wheat and barley: T. K. Turkington, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada; K. Xi, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Canada; and H. R. Kutcher, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; 1 Introduction 2 Increasing temporal diversity: crop rotation 3 Increasing spatial diversity: intercropping 4 Increasing genetic diversity: gene deployment 5 The role of conservation tillage 6 Conclusions and future trends 7 Where to look for further information 8 References