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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Agricultural Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #418486
Research Project: Climate-resilient Sustainable Irrigated and Dryland Cropping Systems in the Semi-arid Northern Great Plains

Location: Agricultural Systems Research

Title: Nitrogen fertilization to malt barley enhances pea yield and quality, regardless of cover cropping, in the malt barley-pea rotation

Author
item Sainju, Upendra

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2025
Publication Date: 6/3/2025
Citation: Sainju, U.M. 2025. Nitrogen fertilization to malt barley enhances pea yield and quality, regardless of cover cropping, in the malt barley-pea rotation. Agronomy Journal. 117(3). Article e70085. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70085.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70085

Interpretive Summary: Legume-nonlegume rotation is getting popular to replace fallow-nonlegume rotation in dryland cropping systems in the US northern Great Plains because it increases crop yields and farm income for producers. In this rotation, nonlegumes receive nitrogen fertilizers, but legumes do not because they fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. The effect of nitrogen fertilization rate to nonlegumes on yield and quality of legumes in the legume-nonlegume rotation is not well known. An ARS researcher in Sidney, MT evaluated the effect of winter cover cropping and nitrogen fertilization rate to malt barley on pea growth, yield, and quality in the malt barley-pea rotation from 2014 to 2019. He reported that nitrogen fertilization to malt barley enhanced pea yield and quality compared with no nitrogen fertilization, regardless of cover cropping, in the malt barley-pea rotation. Cover cropping was less effective in pea performance. Producers can benefit the enhancement of pea yield and quality by applying N fertilizer to malt barley in the malt barley-pea rotation in dryland cropping systems in the northern Great Plains.

Technical Abstract: Cover crop and N fertilization rate to malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) (NRMB) can affect soil residual NO3-N content that may alter pea (Pisum sativum L.) growth, yield, and quality in the malt barley-pea rotation. The effect of cover crop (oat [Avena sativa L.) cover crop vs. none) and NRMB (0, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 kg N ha-1) were examined on soil residual NO3-N content and pea growth, yield, and quality in the malt barley-pea rotation from 2014 to 2019 in the US northern Great Plains. Soil residual NO3-N content increased with increasing NRMB. Cover crop biomass yield was 33-393% greater with than without NRMB in 2015 and 2016. Pea grain yield and N uptake were 40-41% greater for 40 than 60 kg N ha-1 of NRMB in 2015 and 45-167% greater for 70 than 0 kg N ha-1 in 2018. Grain test weight was 27% greater with than without NRMB in 2014 and 2019. Harvest index was 22-29% greater for 70 than 40, 60, and 80 kg N ha-1 in 2014, but 18-33% greater for 0 than 50 or 80 kg N ha-1 of NRMB in 2017 and 2019. Nitrogen harvest index was 13-14% greater for 0 than 50 and 60 kg N ha-1 of NRMB in 2015 and 2019. Straw yield, N concentration, and N uptake, and grain protein concentration were 10-34% greater with than without NRMB. Nitrogen fertilization to malt barley enhanced pea yield and quality, regardless of cover cropping, in the malt barley-pea rotation in the US northern Great Plains.