Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Crop Yields From Winter Oilseed Rape Cropping Systems are Unaffected by Management Practices

Winter oilseed rape is traditionally established via plough-based soil cultivation and conventional sowing methods. Whilst there potential to adopt lower cost, less intensive establishment systems, the impact of these on greenhouse gas emissions have not been evaluated. To address this, field experiments were conducted in 2014/2015 2015/2016 investigate effects 1) crop method 2) from a winter grown Ireland. Soil carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide methane emission measurements carried out using static chamber method. Yield (t seed ha −1 ) yield-scaled global warming (kg CO 2 -eq. kg seed) also determined for each management practice. During establishment, tillage induced an initially rapid loss dioxide (2.34 g C m −2 hr compared strip (0.94 or minimum (0.16 ( p < 0.05), although this decreased background values within few hours. In trial, cumulative were, apart methane, unaffected by when sown at (125 mm) wide (600 row spacing. 21% higher plants 10 seeds 60 0.05). Row spacing width 750 variety (conventional semi-dwarf) found little effect differences yield between treatments small. Overall, practices had no consistent modifications per plant countered planting density.