Carry-over effects of cover crops on weeds and crop productivity in no-till systems

Rouge, Alicia; Adeux, Guillaume; Busset, Hugues; Hugard, Rodolphe; Martin, Juliette; Matéjicek, Annick; Moreau, Delphine; Guillemin, Jean‐Philippe; Cordeau, Stéphane

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2023.108899

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The diversification of crops over time can be increased by the use of cover crop implemented between the harvest of the previous crop and the sowing of the next cash crop (Teasdale et al, 2007;Rouge et al, 2022). The use of cover crops can improve weed control during this period (Rouge et al, 2022) even if it does not always carry over in the next season (Adeux et al, 2021(Adeux et al, , 2023Rouge et al, 2023) and offer significant and substantial benefits in terms of crop rotation (Sarrantonio and Gallandt, 2003;Marcillo and Miguez, 2017;Nouri et al, 2022).…”

Section: Crop Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grand challenges in designing and assessing agroecological cropping systems

Cordeau

2024

Front. Agron.

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Section: Crop Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grand challenges in designing and assessing agroecological cropping systems

Cordeau

2024

Front. Agron.

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“…The difference between farming systems was most striking in how successful farmers were in controlling weeds with CCs (Figure 4). In organic production, CCs act as an important biological tool, but their weed suppression capacity varies depending on the properties of the CCs, as well as the conditions and used crop management [6,7,[52][53][54]. Successes with CCs did not greatly differ depending on the farm size-nor in terms of controlling weeds-but farmers with larger farms agreed more frequently that they considered the means to increase success with CCs a lot (Figure 5).…”

Section: Successes and Positive Prospects For Cover Crops Coupled Wit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In total, 9% of farmers highlighted profitability. Younger farmers (≤50 years) were especially interested in having more results on the profitability of the cultivation of CCs, i.e., costs compared to benefits and consideration of the monetary value of the shortand long-term impacts on yields and ecosystem services [3,7]. The benefits of CCs tend to accumulate over time; therefore, many surveys have indicated that economic barriers prevent deployment [33][34][35].…”

Section: Farmers' To-do List For Research To Support Success With Cov...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the future, large-scale implementation is needed to support the transition towards green, year-round soil cover and achieve the numerous ecosystem services that CCs may provide [1]. The potential advantages for crop production include higher yields [2,3], nutrient cycling [4,5], weed control [6,7], improved soil health [8][9][10], and adaptation to climate change [11]. On the other hand, ecosystem services provided by CCs include reduced nutrient leaching and erosion [12,13], pesticide acquisition [14], and carbon sequestration [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Finnish Farmers Feel They Have Succeeded in Adopting Cover Crops but Need Down-to-Earth Support from Research

Peltonen-Sainio,

Jauhiainen,

Känkänen

2023

Agronomy

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In Finland, there is an ongoing adoption and learning process considering the cultivation of cover crops (CCs). The primary aim is to claim the benefits of CCs for agricultural production and ecosystems, which are both appreciated by Finnish farmers. A farmer survey with 1130 respondents was carried out to build an up-to-date understanding of how farmers have succeeded with CCs and whether they intend to continue with the use of CCs and to collect farmers’ views on knowledge gaps that should be filled by research or better knowledge sharing. The studied groups were farmers who had selected CCs as a registered measure in 2020 to receive agricultural payments. Data came from the Finnish Food Authority. Organic farmers were slightly more positive: they have had longer experience with CCs, but organic production is also more dependent on the ecosystem services provided by CCs. A high share of respondents agreed that their experiences with CCs have improved over time and were confident that CCs had become a permanent element of their production systems. Most of the farmers also agreed that the area under CCs would expand significantly in Finland and considered the cultivation of CCs as an effective measure to improve soil conditions. They often considered that challenges in adopting CCs were exaggerated and disagreed that bad experiences prevented them from expanding or continuing the use of CCs. The agricultural payment available for Finnish farmers to support the cultivation of CCs is quite reasonable (EUR 97 + EUR 50 per hectare) to compensate for any economic risks of CCs. Free word answers from the farmers highlighted research needs (in descending order) in the following areas: crop protection, sowing practices, the use of diverse CCs and their mixtures, and impacts on yield and profitability. Many of these are universal, i.e., have been reported elsewhere. Younger farmers (≤50 years) highlighted profitability, which is, in many European countries, a key barrier to the deployment of CCs. Farmers from the east and north regions, where the growing season is short, highlighted alternative CC choices as a knowledge gap.

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