Humusersatzstrategien im viehlosen Ökolandbau

Soil organic matter management is a challenge especially in stockless organic farming systems, as shares of fodder legumes in crop rotations are often small to provide more cash crop area, and farmyard manure as the most valuable source for organic matter supply to soils is not available. However, there are many different options for stockless farms to tackle this challenge. In this article we discuss strategies for organic matter supply to soils based on scenarios for different soil-climate regions in Germany. We conclude that the integration of fodder legumes into crop rotations is the most valuable option, as these crops do not only provide carbon but are able to replace mineralized soil organic matter nitrogen that has been exported with the harvested biomass of the cash crops