This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
"citing his work in ""cast for" "the writing is on the wall"
po-faced Milk Tray time warp

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

green manure crop

English answer:

Plants like alfalfa and mustard, dug into the soil to improve soil quality.

Added to glossary by Ramesh Madhavan
Aug 4, 2004 08:52
20 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term

green manure crop

English Science Agriculture
To increase the humus level and even decrease the saving nitrogen losses it is probably a possibility by sufficient rainfall in July or august, for a seedbed, to saw green manure crop.
It's from a Dutch native. Can anyone help me to understand the sense of phrase: "decrease the saving nitrogen losses", "for a seedbed", "saw green manure crop"? Any help will be appreciate.
Responses
5 +5 Plants which are dug into the soil to improve soil quality
3 +3 Webster says
4 +2 Crop yielded by the help of decomposed plants
3 +1 silage
3 +1 green manure crop

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Aug 4, 2004:
The main idea is: how to increase the level of the organic matter in soil, called "humus".

Responses

+5
28 mins
Selected

Plants which are dug into the soil to improve soil quality

green manure noun [U, C] plants that are dug into the soil in order to improve its quality: Green manure crops such as alfalfa and mustard are widely used in organic gardening.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 33 mins (2004-08-04 09:25:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think what they mean is: If there is sufficient rainfall in July or August, sowing a green manure crop will increase moisture in the soil and also prevent loss of nitrogen in the soil.
Reference:

http://www1.oup.co.uk/elt/oald/bin/oald2.pl

Peer comment(s):
agree Vicky Papaprodromou
4 mins
Thanks Vicky
agree DGK T-I : nitrogen fixing plants, which have the special ability to "fix" nitrogen from the air -when the plants are dug in nitrogen is added to the soil, replenishing losses/enriching - as well as adding humus (which improves soil quality & moisture holding)
43 mins
Thanks
agree Eva Karpouzi
48 mins
Thanks
agree Rajan Chopra
49 mins
Thanks
agree Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Splendid answer! Thank you Jonathan, thank you john, Thank you Dr. Giuli, tahnk you all!"
+3
1 min

Webster says

"an herbaceous crop (as clover) plowed under while green to enrich the soil"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 mins (2004-08-04 08:56:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

i.e. natural \"manure\" containing no animal excrement
Peer comment(s):
agree Vicky Papaprodromou
31 mins
agree DGK T-I
1 hr
agree Eva Karpouzi
1 hr
Something went wrong...
+1
13 mins

silage

An awful sentence. I think it means that you can, given sufficient rainfall in July and August, increase humus (humidity?) levels - and possibly reduce loss of retained nitrogen - by sewing (not saw) a green silage crop.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Ramesh Madhavan : Did you mean sowing or sewing? :-)))
5 mins
ooops! Sowing, of course!
agree DGK T-I : agree with the concept (and about the sentence:-) - I wouldn't use the word 'silage' (green crops, espec. grass, cut & fermented for animal feed) for the 'green manure' (nitrogen fixing plants) which are sown in a seed bed & then later dug in ~
49 mins
Something went wrong...
+2
1 hr

Crop yielded by the help of decomposed plants

Crop yielded by the help of decomposed plants(especially green plants), no chemical fertilizers used.
Plants decompose in the soil and become humus.
Rainfall enhances the decomposing process.
Peer comment(s):
agree Eva Karpouzi
6 mins
agree DGK T-I : it is a technique used in organic gardening (gardening without chemicals),but it may also be used in non-organic farming (chemicals used).Here the significance of the rainfall is that it allows a seedbed (of the green manure plants) to germinate & develop
8 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr

green manure crop

I suspect:

To increase the humus level and decrease or even prevent nitrogen losses
it may be possible, if there is sufficient rainfall in July or august for a seedbed, to sow green manure crop (green manure - 'nitrogen fixing plants' such as Ramesh & others have mentioned, eg: Clover, which "fix" Nitrogen from the air, which enriches the soil when the green manure plants are ploughed/dug in.)

Rainfall needed for germination of the seedbed, where the Green Manure plants are sown.







--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 32 mins (2004-08-04 10:24:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Most or all of this is in Ramesh\'s answer so \"no kudos please\"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 39 mins (2004-08-04 10:32:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The effect is two fold - increasing (or reducing the decrease due to the previous crop) Nitrogen levels in the soil, and increasing humus levels (which can be, but isn\'t necessarily the same thing - eg: if plants which don\'t fix Nitrogen from the air were sown, grown & ploughed in, there wouldn\'t be an increase in Nitrogen content).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 hrs 12 mins (2004-08-05 07:04:37 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

typo.
\'...to sow a green manure crop...\'
Peer comment(s):
agree Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search