Combined production systems

Vegetable - peanut rotation

A five-year program was undertaken to determine if vegetable yields were affected if they were planted in rotation with peanut. The vegetables tested were Bell Pepper, Cucumber, and Navy Bean. Vegetables followed 1, 2, or 3 years of peanut. All crops were planted on beds on 3 foot centers. If vegetables followed 2 or 3 years of peanut yields were less than if they only followed 1 year of peanut. The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. 1997. Yields of vegetables and peanut in rotation plantings. HortScience 32(2):209-212".

An additional 4-year program was undertaken to determine if Sweet Corn used in rotation with peanut and Bell Pepper would affect yields.  Cumulative yields for all crops where vegetables were planted in the last two years of the rotation were higher than if the vegetables were planted in the middle two years.  Terminal market prices affected crop value so that high yields were not always associated with high returns.  The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. 2003. Yields of bell pepper, sweet corn, and peanut in rotations. HortScience 38(7):1341-1343".

Sequential planting

Bell pepper was followed in sequence with cucumber, processing tomato or bunch onion. Each crop was harvested once. Bell pepper was always the first crop in the sequence. Fertilizer was applied before bell pepper were established, and other crops were planted into the same beds after the bell pepper were mowed. The bell pepper and cucumber sequence had the highest total yield. The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. 1996. Sequential planting for single-harvest vegetables. J. Vegetable Crop Production. 2(2):77-90".

Staggered planting

Bell pepper were transplanted in mid-April, mid-May, mid-June and mid-July on beds on 6 foot centers. The greatest yield was for the earliest planting and decreased with later plantings. However, the cumulative yield from all plantings almost doubled that of the first planting alone. The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. 1995. Effect of sequential planting, plant replacement, and planting date on marketable yield of bell pepper, Capsicum annuum var. annuum L. J. Vegetable Crop Production. 1(1):73-78".

Soil amendments peanuts and vegetables

In the first year of a three year program peanut was established in soil with Rhizobium bacteria only, an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus only, both or neither.  In the next two years bell pepper or navy bean were established across plots without additional amendment.  Inoculum type did not affect yield, and inoculum did not affect yield.  The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. 1995. Efficacy of bacterial or fungal soil amendments on vegetables following peanut. HortScience 41:1395-1399".

Vegetable-Italian Ryegrass rotation

An early maturing Italian ryegrass, 'Shiwasuaoba', was established in the fall and harvested in the late-spring of the following year.  The ryegrass was followed by sweet corn using no-till practices, and that was followed by either bell pepper or cucumber established on beds.  The ryegrass was again established in the fall of the year.  The control was a bare soil.  Combined yields were better on soil that had a winter cover than that which had bare soil.  The full text of the experiment can be found in "Russo, V. M. and B. Kindiger. 2007.   J. Sustainable Agriculture. 31(1):33-43."