Cover Crops
Definition
Cover crops can
either be crops grown between cash crop cycles, or intercropped with the cash
crops to cover the bare ground, such as in orchards, groves, and other
long-term sites. Used appropriately, cover crops can improve soil structure and
fertility, decrease soil erosion, provide foliage and animal feed, and suppress
crop pests such as weeds, insects, nematodes, and plant pathogens including
fungi. Residues from cover crops can be incorporated for use as green manure to
supply nutrients and improve fertility for the next crop. Using cover crops can
increase on-farm crop diversity, may enhance some beneficial organisms, and
possibly even contribute to carbon sequestration.
Planting season for cover crops
Planting seasons
of cover crops varies with geography. In the southeastern United States, if
cash crops (e.g. cotton, peanut, vegetables) are grown in the summer, cover
crops are grown in the winter. In areas where winter vegetables are produced
(e.g. central and south Florida), cover crops are usually grown in the summer.
Cover crops in cropping systems and usual planting seasons in southeastern United States
|
Scientific name |
Common name |
Planting season |
|
Aeschynomene americana |
American jointvetch |
summer |
|
|
||
|
winter |
||
|
winter |
||
|
summer |
||
|
Cynodon dactylon |
coastal
Bermudagrass |
several* |
|
Digitaria
decumbens |
Pangola grass |
several* |
|
Glycine max |
soybean |
summer |
|
winter |
||
|
summer |
||
|
Panicum
ramosum |
millet |
summer |
|
Paspalum notatum |
bahiagrass |
several* |
|
winter |
||
|
summer |
||
|
summer |
||
|
summer |
||
|
summer |
||
|
summer |
||
|
summer |
||
|
winter |
||
|
winter |
||
|
winter |
||
|
summer |
- Several seasons usually required for
crop establishment.
“Cover crops” that have potential to become weeds.
|
Scientific
name |
Common name |
Planting season |
|
Cassia
fasiculata |
partridge pea |
|
|
summer |
||
|
|
||
|
Ricinus
communis |
castor |
summer |
Uses of cover crops
