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Oilseed rape and field bean production potential on an amended former landfill site restored with London clay
Author(s) -
Sellers G.,
McRae S. G.,
Cook H. F.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.459
Subject(s) - topsoil , compost , amendment , fertilizer , arable land , environmental science , agronomy , sewage sludge , green waste , straw , yield (engineering) , land reclamation , agriculture , soil water , environmental engineering , sewage , biology , soil science , law , ecology , materials science , political science , metallurgy
Re‐establishment of vegetation on landfill sites, as required in UK planning consents, frequently means establishing viable arable agriculture rather than grassland. However, there is currently little information on crop suitability or yield, especially where the land has been restored with clay subsoils. Results are presented from three years growing oilseed rape and two years growing field beans, on a landfill site in south Essex, England, which was restored with London Clay. The site was restored in two ways. One area had a 900 mm depth of London Clay applied on top of the capped landfill. The second area had a 700 mm depth of London Clay topped with 200 mm of imported sieved material (known as screened material or ‘screenings’) which looked suitable for use as a soil forming substrate. The amendments tested were indigenous topsoil, screened material, mineral fertilizer, greenwaste compost or sewage sludge cake. Results show that oilseed rape is not suitable. It performed poorly regardless of amendment (greatest yield = 1.1 t ha −1 or 50 per cent of average agricultural yield). Mineral fertilizer produced some small improvement with oilseed rape when grown on London Clay or with a topsoil‐forming layer of screenings. Beans performed well (greatest yield 3.9 t ha −1 , comparable to average agricultural yields). Sludge cake had little effect on bean growth performance and both crops performed poorly on land amended with green waste compost. Screenings improved yield if sludge or no amendment was used, but had no effect when mineral fertilizer was applied. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.