Proficiency of green fallow compared to bare fallow, grain legume and cereal pre-crops in a long-term crop rotation

Abstract

Long-term experiments (LTEs) are an important tool to investigate the effects of crop rotation and fertilization measures under climate change conditions. However, LTEs that integrate fallow management strategies, including green and bare fallow are hardly available in Europe today. The objective of our study is to explore how the integration of green and bare fallow, grain legume and cereal crops in long-term experiments enhances ecosystem resilience under changing climate conditions, to better understand their contributions to sustainable agricultural practices. Therefore, a LTE established in 1982 aimed to study the role of fallow lands (green vs. bare), grain legume and cereal pre-crops on the yields of subsequent cereal crops. The study was conducted within a rotational cropping syste