Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Abstract

A B S T R A C TReduction of soil tillage is of paramount importance for agricultural soil preservation. However, it is often accompanied by yield reduction and weed management problems. In this perspective, cover crops could play an important role to alleviate weed infestation and sustain yield. In this study, the results from a three-year experiment of cover crop cultivation in different soil tillage treatments is presented, together with results from DayCent simulations on the long term evolution of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. Eight cover crop treatments were set up as subtreatments in a long term experiment in Switzerland. Cover crops were cultivated for a short two-month period between two winter wheats. Substantial differences in cover crop growth were observed depending on cover crop species. In all tillage treatments, high cover crop biomass production allowed to supress weed biomass compared to the no cover crop control. Wheat grain yield was higher in the minimum tillage than in the plough treatment. In the no till treatment, wheat yield was notably low, except in the field pea treatments, where wheat yield reached values similar to that observed in the plough and minimum tillage treatments. In addition, these differences in biomass production translated into important differences in nutrient inputs, and even in soil nutrient concentration in some cases. Long term simulations showed that cover crop cultivation could increase drastically soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, especially in reduced tillage treatments. Altogether, these results demonstrated that the presence of a well-developed cover crop, even for only two months, allows to sustain wheat yield in a no till treatment. It impacts also soil fertility and nutrient cycling. This study shows that an accurate use and management of cover crops, in interaction with tillage reduction, could maintain yield and improve soil fertility in the long term.

The Effect of Leguminous Cover Crops on Growth and Yield of Garden Eggs

“…The higher vegetative growth of the leguminous cover crop plots over those in the control may be due to fixing nitrogen in the soil and decomposition of the biomass of the leguminous crops (Kintomo et al, 2008). This study is in agreement with a previous study in which cover crop, pea, produced sufficient biomass and nitrogen availability and led to higher yield of the succeeding crop which was maize (Buchi et al, 2018). Similarly, some earlier studies also reported the beneficial effects of cover crops on improving soil fertility and quality (Porpavai et al, 2006, Abdohalli and Munkholm, 2014, Mitchell et al, 2017.…”

Conservation practice complementarity and timing of on‐farm adoption

“…That is, farmers experience cost savings, enhanced soil or yield benefits, or higher profits when some practices are adopted in bundles. For example, crop rotations and CCs practices can help manage weeds in no-tillage systems and enhance the benefits from the practice (Büchi, Wendling, Amossé, Necpalova, & Charles, 2018;Triplett & Dick, 2008). Although we are not able to test for profit gains or cost savings from adopting these practices (see Perry et al, 2016), given the dynamics surrounding the adoption of these practices, we believe our results suggest that these practices are seen as complements in adoption by producers.…”

Do cover crops improve the productivity and industrial quality of upland rice?

“…Silva, Muraoka, Guimarães, and Buzetti (2006), researching cover crops in the Cerrado, found that plants that accumulated the greatest dry mass also accumulated a larger amount of K (sunn hemp < millet < fallow). Cover crops accumulate large amounts of nutrients, avoiding loss by leaching (Büchi, Wendling, Amossé, Necpalova, & Charles, 2018); therefore, cover crops that accumulate a larger amount of K may promote lower nutrient loss in the soil profile.…”