UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

GKVK, BENGALURU -560065

DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY

Course: Principles and Practices of Organic Farming

AGR 512(1+1)

Green manuring and Brown manuring:

meaning, types, concept, advantage and disadvantage.

SUBMITTED TO

Dr. G. GANGADHAR ESHWAR RAO

SUBMITTED BY
ANILKUMAR
PAMB 1195
Jr. M.Sc (Agri)
Introduction:
Presently, India has achieved food sufficiency level by increased fertilizer use with subsidized
prices. Inorganic fertilizers are becoming more expensive; therefore, sustainability of soil
productivity has become a question. Hence, alternate sources to supplement inorganic
fertilizers are thought. Green manures crops grown for the benefit of the soil. The use of green
manure crops in traditional agriculture for thousands of years are more common but
conventional farming systems largely rejected them. Importance of this soil ameliorating
practice is increasing in recent years because of high cost of chemical fertilizers, increased risk
of environmental pollution, and need of sustainable cropping systems. Healthy soils lead to
healthy plants. Maintaining such soils and increase crop production is a huge task for farmers.
Green manures are a gift from nature, being a suitable alternative to increase the organic matter
content of the soil and fulfilled the task of farmers to improve soil productivity and crop
production. Green manuring is an effective technology in minimising cost of fertilizers and
safe guarding productivity. Green manure crop absorbs the nutrient from lower layer and leave
them in surface when ploughed.

Green manuring:
The practice of ploughing or turning into the soil undecomposed green plant tissue for the
purpose of improving physical condition as well as fertility of soil is referred to as green
manuring and the manures obtained by this method is known as green manures. The use of
green manure in crop production is recorded in China as early as 1134 BC.
Green manuring is the practice of ploughing under or turning in to soil, any green manure
crops, tender twigs or leaves while they are green or soon after they flower. Green manures are
forage or leguminous crops that are grown for their leafy materials needed for soil nutrient
conservation and to add organic matter in the soil. “The value of green manuring lies in the fact
that they add the organic matter into the soil”. The organic matter in the soil is recognized as
being one of its most valuable constituents for real soil fertility. In general, in green manuring
two types of green manure crops used.

Legumes: Used for their ability to fix nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil.
Examples: Sun hemp, sesbania, sweet clovers, guar, lupins, vetches, alfalfa, peas, beans,
soybeans.

Non-legumes: Mainly serve as cover crops and enrich soils of organic matter.
Examples: Berseem, buckwheat, chicory, mustard, turnips, ryegrass, oats, barley and rye.

Types of green manuring:

1) Green manuring (in situ):
Any crop or plant (generally leguminous) grown and ploughed in situ is called green manuring
in situ. E.g.: Sesbania (Sesbania speciosa), dhaindia (Sesbania aculeate), sun hemp (Crotolaria
juncea), Phillipesara (Phaseolus trilobus), cowpea (Vigna anguiculata), greengram
(Mungbean) (Vigna radiata), black gram (Vigna mungo), berseem (Trifolium alexandrium) etc.
2) Green leaf manuring: Consists of gathering green biomass (tender leaves and twigs) from
nearby location (bunds, field boundaries) and adding it to the soil.
E.g.: Cassia auriculata, neem (Azadiracta indica), Glyricidia (Glyricidia maculate), Leucaena
leucocephala, Cassia tora, Tephrosia purpurea, Vitex nigundo, karanj (Pongamia glabra),
calotropis (Calotropis gigantea) etc,
In the in-situ method, green manure crops are grown in
a field prior to crop cultivation and then cut and buried when approximately 50 percent of all
plants are flowering. For green manuring, legumes are preferred because of their ability to fix
nitrogen from the air. The use of sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea) is popular and well-practiced
by most of the farmers. Because of its ability to grow fast and its efficient nitrogen fixing
capacity, these plants are grown and sacrificed to improve the living condition of the main
crop.
Green manuring with legumes (Sesbania, cowpea,
green gram, clovers, lentils, cluster bean etc.) is called legume green manuring. It is a viable
alternative to conventional lean period fallowing and can reduce the amount of nitrogen
fertilizer required. This crop has to be turned under the soil before the plants set seed. Legumes
crops are used as a greenmanures or as forage crops has become, an important practice for
maintaining soil fertility and productivity.
2) Green leaf manuring (ex situ):
In this practice the foliage’s of the shrub and herb type of weeds that are grow along the
roadside, riverside and lake bunds and leaves and twigs of trees that are grown along the
boundaries of the farm and along the main bunds of the fields were collected and incorporated
in the existing crop field. In this there will be more variety of species

Types of green manures:

Long term green manures Leys, usually established for two or three years, are a basic
part of many organic arable rotations. Where animals are present on the farm the leys would
usually be grazed or cut for silage but in stockless systems, they are normally cut monthly
during the summer period and the mowing’s allowed to remain on the surface as a mulch. Such
leys may be pure clover (when nitrogen fixation is a priority) or a grass/clover mixture (when
organic matter build up is also important).
Winter green manures are usually sown in the autumn and incorporated in the following
spring. They can be a good way of fitting a fertility building crop into a rotation if they can
utilise land that would otherwise be bare. However, it can be difficult to establish them early
enough to do any good if harvest of the preceding summer crop is delayed. They can be legumes
(eg vetch) but a major use for this class of crops (even in conventional agriculture) is to
minimise nitrogen leaching; when used for this purpose they are often called winter cover
crops.

Summer green manures are usually legumes grown to provide a boost of nitrogen in mid
rotation. They may be grown for a whole season (say April to September) or for a shorter period
between two cash crops. These shorter-term green manures can include non-legumes such as
mustard and phacelia. They are sometimes referred to as catch crops but this term is rather
misleading.

Green manures may also be used in intercropping systems. On arable farms leys are
usually established by undersowing them in the preceding cereal crop – this gives the green
manure a longer growth period and can help in weed control. A similar thing can be done with
horticultural crops but care is needed to avoid too much competition. The practice may be
particularly valuable as a pest control measure.

Protected cropping systems offer particular challenges and opportunities for green
manuring. Because of the warmer temperatures it may be possible to sow ‘summer’ green
manures at any time of year but trial and error would be needed to fit them in to the particular
cropping plan of an individual grower.

Fertility building in orchards is particularly difficult because nitrogen must be provided

at the right time to ensure good fruit set and quality. Green manures grown as an understory
can also play an important role in attracting beneficial insects and management decisions to
achieve these twin goals must be carefully integrated. Similar issues also apply in other long
term cropping situations (eg asparagus production).
Advantages of green manuring:
1. Helps in improving physical and chemical properties of soil. E.g., Builds up soil structure,
improves tilth, formation of crumbs in heavy soil, increases water holding capacity
2. Green manure crops absorb nutrients from the lower layer of soils and leave them in the soil
surface layer when ploughed in for use by the succeeding crops.
3. Helps to maintain OM status of soil.
4. Acts as source of food and energy to soil microbes and increases their population.
5. Helps in release of nutrients in available form for use by the crops. E.g., GM crop increases
the solubility of lime phosphate because of increase in microbial activity.
6. Prevents leaching of nutrients to lower layers.
7. Increases aeration of rice soils by stimulating the activities of surface films of algae and
bacteria.
8. It reduces soil temperature and protects the soil from the erosion action of water as it forms
canopy cover on the soil.
9. Leguminous green manure plants helps in N-fixation and adds the same to the soil. E.g., 60-
100 kg N/ha in single season.
Green manures 60 to 200 kg N/ha
Crotolaria juncea (sun hemp) 17 t/ha biomass, 160 kg N/ha
Dhainchia (Sesbania aculeata) 25-26 t/ha biomass, 18.5 kg N/ha
10. Helps in soil amelioration. E.g., Sesbania aculcata (Dhaincha) in soil – when applied
continuously for 4-5 seasons, green leaf manuring crops like Argenone maxicana and
Tamarindus indicus has buffering effect in sodic soils.
11. Certain green manure like pongamia and neem leaves are reported to control insects. 12.
Increases yield to the extent of 15-20 per cent compared to no green manuring.

Disadvantages of green manuring:

➢ Direct costs of seed and extra cultivations
➢ Lost opportunities for cash cropping
➢ Extra work at busy times of the year
➢ Exacerbated pest and disease problems (due to the ‘green bridge’ effect)
➢ Potential for the green manures to become weeds in their own right
Desirable characteristics for legume green manure crops;
1. Multipurpose use
2. Short duration, fast growing, high nutrient accumulation ability
3. Tolerance to shade, flood, drought and adverse temperatures.
4. Wide ecological adaptability
5. Efficiency in use of water
6. Early onset of biological N-fixation
7. High N accumulation rates
8. Timely release of nutrients
9. Photoperiod insensitivity
10. High seed production, high seed viability
11. Ease in incorporation
12. Ability to cross inoculate or responsive to inoculation
13. Pest and disease resistance
14. High N sinks in underground plant parts

Objectives of green manuring:

To add N to the crop and add or sustain organic content of the soil.

Subsidiary objective:
a. Legumes are inter-sown in standing crop before or after harvest, to utilize nitrates or the left-
over moisture.
b. Sown in young orchards with the objective of shading the soil surface and, preventing the
rise of temperature.
c. green manure crops are grown with the objective of covering the soil surface with a
vegetative material, especially in hilly slopes during the rainy period to reduce soil erosion and
run-off of water.
d. Legume are grown for taking cutting of green fodder for cattle in early stages and later as
green manure. Pillipesara seeds can be broadcasted in the standing rice crop.

How green manuring improve the fertility of soil?

a. green manure crop absorbs the nutrient from lower layer and leave them in surface when
ploughed.
b. Prevent leaching of nutrient to lower layers.
c. Harbour N fixing bacteria, rhizobium in root nodules and fix atmospheric nitrogen.
d. Increase solubility of lime phosphate, trace element etc., through the activity of soil micro-
organism and by producing organic acids during decomposition.

Management of green manures:

Management of green manures will depend on the type of green manure, the duration of the
crop spp., and the nature of the farming system in which green manure crop used. The key
management practices for some common species of green manure are summarized in below
table;
 Table: Management of green manures.

Table: Available nutrient content (%) in green manure and green leaf
manure.

Preparation of seed bed:

A seedbed for green manure crop should be prepared using standard techniques by loosening
the soil with a fork to break up any clods to a reasonable depth. The earlier development of
effective root systems is play a vital role for overall performance of the green manure crop.
This is particularly important for the shorter-term green manures. The broken of compaction
of soil depend on the size of seed and it is particularly important that small seeds such as clover
is sown into a fine, well-firmed seedbed. Although it may seem obvious there should be
adequate moisture in the seedbed prior to sowing.

Sowing techniques: green manure crops are sown by broadcasting and drilling. In practice
the choice is often determined by what machinery is available. Even distribution of seed and
uniform sowing depth are the prime requirements for successful establishment in conjunction
with a fine firm seedbed.
Mowing: Most of short-duration green manure crops are grown to generate bulk and this is
turned in soil after flowering time or before the crop has set seed. Longer duration green
manures need proper management if they are grown to generate the required benefits.

Incorporation of green manure crop:

Effective incorporation of the green manure crop is as important as the growing of the crop.
Green material of incorporated crop should breakdown quickly and this will depend on good
mixing of the green manure crop and proper aeration of the soil. It is also important that the
green manure has not become too mature and woody at the time of incorporation. Before
incorporation, the top growth should ideally be wilted. If there is a lot of bulk a topper should
be used to chop the growth, which is then wilted for up to 7 days before incorporation. To chop
the green material into the soil surface, an alternative approach is uses disc harrows or a shallow
rotavator.

Table: The relative merits of machinery for incorporation of green

manures.

BROWN MANURING:
Brown manuring is simply a ‘no-till’ version of green manuring, using a selective herbicide to
desiccate the crop before flowering instead of using cultivation. According to this technique,
green manure crops are grown along with the crop and killing them with the help of herbicide.
The plant residues are left standing in the field along with the main crop without
incorporation/in-situ ploughing until its residue decomposes itself in the soil. It helps to add
organic manure besides weed suppression by its shade effect. The post-emergence herbicide
spray on green manure leaves resulting in loss of chlorophyll in leaves showing brown in colour
is referred to as brown manuring.

Crops Suitable for Brown Manuring:

Non-leguminous crops: The non-leguminous crops which provide only organic matter to
the soil are used to a limited extent. Example: Niger, Wild indigo etc.
Leguminous crops: Crops provide organic matter along with nitrogen to the soils. The
legumes are preferably used, and they can fix atmospheric nitrogen with the help of its nodule
bacteria. Example: Sun hemp, Dhaincha, Mung, Cowpea, Lentil etc.
Generally, brown manuring in rice is the practice of growing Sesbania spp. and rice together,
and when these dhaincha plants overtake the rice plants in height at about 25 days of co-culture,
a weedicide 2, 4-D is applied to kill these Sesbania plants. After 4-5 days of spraying, Sesbania
plants will appear brown and then start dying; leaves will fall on the ground and form mulch
and help in smothering of weeds. As it is a selective herbicide, it kills only Sesbania plants and
not the rice plants. This is called the down knocking effect.
Sesbania is a live cover that offers interference (at pre-killing period) with weed and later as a
dead residue mulch offers stimulation by addition of organic matter (at post-killing period). As
brown manure crops are grown between the lines of the major crop, so planting density in the
field was high, due to which there would be no free space available for weed for its spread
resulting in a minimum weed population. In brown manuring, knocking down of Sesbania by
2,4 D application fasten the decomposition and release of nutrient present in Sesbania as
compared to in-situ incorporation. Sesbania could add C and N into the soil, which facilitates
favourable microbial action (Behera and Das, 2019). Also, during the decomposition of
Sesbania, certain organic acids, allelochemicals are released, which might offer some
depressive effect on the weed seed bank. Enhanced soil fertility as well as lesser weed
competition under brown manuring treatment, leads to higher productivity of crops.

Benefits of Brown Manuring:

• Soil organic carbon content is increased by brown manuring, thereby supplying the required
nitrogen for the rice plants. Thus, a part of nitrogenous fertilizer (up to 25%) can be replaced
by brown manuring.
• It also increases the crop yield
• Biomass of green manure conserves moisture
• It also improves the soil health parameters like organic carbon content and earthworm
population of the soil.
• Brown manuring improves the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil.
• Brown manuring reduces the weed population in the early stage due to its high growth rate
and competition with the weeds.
• Brown manuring increasing soil organic matter, which decreases the bulk density of the soil
and acts as a buffer preventing or lessening the transmission of compaction to subsoil from
external loads acting on the topsoil
 Social Feasibility of the Technology:
✓ The technology is more suitable for risk prone agro-ecosystems in which direct seeding
of rice is done.
✓ As most of the Indian rice growers are resource poor, the technology can add more
benefit with very marginal input cost.

Table: Difference between Green manuring and Brown manuring.