Publication Date

1993

Location

New Zealand

Description

Ecological conditions in Cukurova are favourable for production of various crops, including cotton and wheat, so cotton monoculture or cotton-wheat rotation systems have been common for many years. These monoculture systems have brought some soil and pest problems into .Cukurova. To improve the livestock production, intensive dairy units were established, However, half of these were later liquidated since the livestock husbandry was unprofitable, compared with cash cropping. The most limiting factor was the high purchase cost of fodder. Ley fanning is an alternative system in which crops are alternated on the same land to obtain fodder without reducing yields of cash crops, and may even increase their yields, and improve the soil conditions. As a result of the experiments· conducted for the introduction of ley farming into .Cukurova, it has been determined that a vetch + barley mixture could yield satisfactory herbage without any damage to cotton yields; also, that growing some forage and seed legumes before cereal could increase both wheat and barley yields, depending on the years. Also, it was found that some forage legumes could be successfully grown as plX'e stands and as mixture with grasses, giving considerable herbage yields.

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Performance of Ley Farming Systems Including Annual Legumes and Mixtures of Legumes with Grasses at Cukurova in Turkey

New Zealand

Ecological conditions in Cukurova are favourable for production of various crops, including cotton and wheat, so cotton monoculture or cotton-wheat rotation systems have been common for many years. These monoculture systems have brought some soil and pest problems into .Cukurova. To improve the livestock production, intensive dairy units were established, However, half of these were later liquidated since the livestock husbandry was unprofitable, compared with cash cropping. The most limiting factor was the high purchase cost of fodder. Ley fanning is an alternative system in which crops are alternated on the same land to obtain fodder without reducing yields of cash crops, and may even increase their yields, and improve the soil conditions. As a result of the experiments· conducted for the introduction of ley farming into .Cukurova, it has been determined that a vetch + barley mixture could yield satisfactory herbage without any damage to cotton yields; also, that growing some forage and seed legumes before cereal could increase both wheat and barley yields, depending on the years. Also, it was found that some forage legumes could be successfully grown as plX'e stands and as mixture with grasses, giving considerable herbage yields.