Participants on a field tour of eastern Kings County sponsored by the Agronomy Initiative for Marketable Yield check out potato samples at one of the stops. Looking at the best cover crops for a changing PEI climate is one of the major priorities of the initiative, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments, Cavendish Farms and processing growers.
Participants on a field tour of eastern Kings County sponsored by the Agronomy Initiative for Marketable Yield check out potato samples at one of the stops. Looking at the best cover crops for a changing PEI climate is one of the major priorities of the initiative, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments, Cavendish Farms and processing growers.
Potato producers put a lot of money and time on non-potato crops they grow, says the research and agronomy specialist with the PEI Potato Board.
"That is why we are trying to identify the crops that work best for growers," Ryan Barrett noted during a field tour in the Eastern Kings area sponsored by the Agronomy Initiative for Marketable Yield (AIM).
A joint venture between the federal and provincial governments, Cavendish Farms and the province's processing growers, Barrett said the organziation conducts research in partnership with a number of other groups including Living Labs Atlantic.
One project on display during the tour was a soil building trial that saw one half of a field planted in grain and hay while the other half contained tillage radish as the non-potato cover crop. He noted the multi-year trial features Payette Russett potatoes this year and they have been slow to bulk.
"Last year, the hay crop wasn't great but the tillage radish produced a strong crop," Barrett noted.
A ten foot strip dug in preparation for the field trial produced 15.1 pounds and 75 tubers of Payette Russetts while the check field had 12.8 pounds and 66 tubers. Barrett added "there was a little bit higher set in the radish than the hay."
The tillage radish is able to break through the soil with a root that can generate pressure of 240 pounds per square inch and is usually planted in mid-August. Since it has no commercial value at the moment (with the possible exception of forage for cattle) it is left in the ground to serve as organic matter for the next crop. The crop goes to mush quickly after several days of frost.
When the crop dies, it leaves channels in the soil that help the roots of the next crop establish quickly. They also leave a lot of nutrients in the soil near the old root and the holes left by the plant help with water intake and soil aeration. The roots can go to a depth of three feet and are several inches across the top. The tillage radish can help to control weeds that overwinter in the soil.
While the radish can be sensitive to Fusarium, Barrett said there have been fields in Washington State where tillage radish has been used in the rotation that have produced yields in the range of 1,000 hundredweight to the acre. While growing conditions here are very different, he said the research is aimed at helping develop made in PEI data that can help producers increase yields.
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