Yield and chemical composition of spring triticale grain depending on cropping and tillage systems

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield and chemical composition of triticalegrain in different crop rotation and tillage systems. The first experimental factor was thecropping system – a) crop rotation and b) monoculture and the second factor was the tillagesystem – 1) conventional (CT), 2) reduced (RT) and 3) no-tillage (NT). The spring triticale yieldwas found to be 15.4% higher for crop rotation than for monoculture and 19.4-22.4% higher inCT than in RT and NT. Crop rotation also increased the content of starch in the grain, as well asthat of phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe), with respect to monoculture. Triticale grainfrom the CT plots contained more starch, magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) thangrain from RT and NT. Crude fibre content, however, was higher in the grain harvested fromthe monoculture than in the case of crop rotation. Higher fibre content was also noted in thegrain from NT and RT than from CT.

Keywords:

Crop Rotation , Monoculture , tillage , Macroelements , Microelements , Protein , Starch , Crude fibre