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green manure crop

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


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:green manure crop
English translation:Plants like alfalfa and mustard, dug into the soil to improve soil quality.
Entered by: Ramesh Madhavan
Options:
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08:52 Aug 4, 2004
English to English translations [PRO]
Science - Agriculture
English term or phrase: green manure crop
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.
Tehno
Local time: 22:47
Plants which are dug into the soil to improve soil quality
Explanation:
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.

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

Ramesh Madhavan
Local time: 01:17
Grading comment
Splendid answer! Thank you Jonathan, thank you john, Thank you Dr. Giuli, tahnk you all!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +5Plants which are dug into the soil to improve soil qualityRamesh Madhavan
4 +2Crop yielded by the help of decomposed plants
Mark Xiang
3 +3Webster says
Jonathan MacKerron
3 +1green manure crop
DGK T-I
3 +1silagejohn mason


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


1 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Webster says


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

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Note added at 3 mins (2004-08-04 08:56:09 GMT)
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i.e. natural \"manure\" containing no animal excrement

Jonathan MacKerron
Local time: 21:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
31 mins
agree  DGK T-I
1 hr
agree  Eva Karpouzi
1 hr
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
silage


Explanation:
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.

john mason
Local time: 21:47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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
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28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Plants which are dug into the soil to improve soil quality


Explanation:
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.

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Note added at 33 mins (2004-08-04 09:25:43 GMT)
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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
Ramesh Madhavan
Local time: 01:17
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in TamilTamil
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Splendid answer! Thank you Jonathan, thank you john, Thank you Dr. Giuli, tahnk you all!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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  langclinic
49 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
4 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Crop yielded by the help of decomposed plants


Explanation:
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.

Mark Xiang
Local time: 03:47
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
green manure crop


Explanation:
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.







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Note added at 1 hr 32 mins (2004-08-04 10:24:27 GMT)
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Most or all of this is in Ramesh\'s answer so \"no kudos please\"

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

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Note added at 22 hrs 12 mins (2004-08-05 07:04:37 GMT) Post-grading
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typo.
\'...to sow a green manure crop...\'

DGK T-I
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
3 hrs
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