b'OTHER STUDIESEncouraging results related to potato yield increases with nurse crop intercroppingMAINE NURSE CROP RESEARCH have been reported in other trials conducted by AAFC team members in PrinceSTUDY SUMMARYEdward Island, McCain Foods in New Brunswick and in Maine by John Jemison at the University of Maine. In addition, soil moisture content tended to increase with nurse crops under the trials conducted in Fredericton, N.B., by Hann, and in PrinceNurse crop trials were carried out in the U.S. state of Maine in 2016 by Edward Island by other AAFC team members and McCain Foods.John Jemison, an extension professor of soil and water quality at the In terms of season-long average moisture content, Hann says, in particular,University of Maine. It is important to note in the study year, Maine potato winter rye seeded at the high rate provided the greatest increase. Analysis isyields were very low due to a lack of rain. Winter rye sowed at 200 pounds currently underway to determine the significance of this result. However, Nyiranezaper acre significantly increased potato plant number and biomass com-notes that nurse crops can be part of the solution of retaining soil moisture inpared with the 100 lbs/ac seeding rate. The 20 lb/ac annual rye treatment cropping systems that return a low amount of organic residues to the soil, and inprovided similar plant numbers, but they had significantly lower biomass than either the 100 or 200 lb/ac cereal rye treatments. However, Jemison areas characterized by sandy soils and heavy rainfall in spring, which are moredoes not recommend annual ryegrass for nurse crop use because plant susceptible to soil erosion. biomass is much slower to develop compared with cereal rye. Its clear the results of these studies show nurse crops to be promising as companion plants in potato production, but seeding rate, termination timing andDelaying incorporation rather than killing the nurse crop with a herbicide date, time investment, the costs associated with seed and herbicide, as well as theprior to incorporation led to lower marketable potato yields. The cereal logistical aspects and scalability, all require further investigation.rye nurse crop not killed with herbicide was not completely buried by the hiller and likely competed with the potatoes for water and nutrients, which Researchers also need to further evaluate nurse crop species selection andlimited yield. the effects of soil type as well as the benefits of nurse crops to environmental health and ecosystem services such as soil erosion prevention, Hann says. ThisSee the full Spud Smart feature on this study and other related studies at will all assist farmers in the decision-making process in terms of whether and howhttps://spudsmart.com/novel-option-combat-soil-erosion/to include nurse crops into potato production. We also plan to assess whether a mix of nurse crop species is better than a single crop, and further assess the effects of the presence of nurse crops on the movement and retention of soil water.Overall, researchers must make sure the slight yield increases observed with nurse crops help net higher revenues when all costs of production are taken into account, says Nyiraneza. 14 SPUDSMART.COM WINTER 2020'