Legume Cover Crops for Improving Crop and Soil Management in the Southern United States

Hoyt, Greg D.; Hargrove, W. L.

doi:10.21273/hortsci.21.3.397

Cited by 55 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Intercropping cover crops with orchards can supply forage, which is a sustainable orchard management strategy. Compared with bare orchards, natural grass has a positive effect on soil physicochemical properties, microbial activities, and fruit yield and quality ( Hoyt and Hargrove, 1986 ; Wardle et al., 2001 ; Milgroom et al., 2007 ). Monteiro and Lopes (2007) demonstrated that natural grass is more conducive to achieve a balanced supply of mineral elements and improve fruit yield and quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of planting and mowing cover crops as livestock feed on soil quality and pear production

Chen

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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IntroductionThe increasing demand for animal-products has led to an increasing demand for livestock feed. Using cover crop as green manure in orchards is an effective measure to improve fruit yield and quality. However, the effect of mowing cover forage crops as livestock feed on soil quality and crop production is unclear.MethodTherefore, a 4-year field experiment, which included two treatments, was conducted in pear orchards in Luniao County, China: natural grass (NG) and planting and mowing forage crop ryegrass as livestock feed (MF).ResultsUnder MF treatment, most soil nutrient content, especially alkalihydrolysable N (AN), total phosphate (TP), available phosphate (AP), and microbial biomass phosphate (MBP), had decreased significantly (P<0.05), while β-D-glucosidase (BG, C-cycle enzyme) and soil C limitation at 10–20 cm depth and P limitation at subsoil (20–40 cm) was increased. In addition, the soil bacterial community component in topsoil (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) and fungal community component in topsoil and subsoil were changed in the MF treatment. Network analysis showed that MF treatment had a lower edge number in topsoil but the community edge numbers increased from 12794 in NG to 13676 in MF in subsoil. The average weight degree of the three soil layers in MF treatment were reduced, but the modularity had increased than that in NG. For crop production, MF treatment was 1.39 times higher in pear yield and titratable acids (AC) reduced from 0.19% to 0.13% compared with NG. These changes were more associated with the indicators at the subsoil, especially for TP, AN, pH, and F-NMDS1 (non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) axis 1 of fungi).DiscussionThese results provide data support for the feasibility of planting and mowing forage crops as livestock feed on orchards as well as a new idea for the integration of crop and livestock.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of planting and mowing cover crops as livestock feed on soil quality and pear production

Chen

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…It involves selecting suitable grass species for artificial sowing in the entire orchard or between fruit tree rows or removing unsuitable grasses from the native weeds and retaining some for natural grass growth. Living grass mulching is an efficient soil management method and can improve soil fertility and microbial activity compared to full tillage [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Living grass mulching is now being increasingly used in orchards in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Different Mulching Practices on Soil Environment and Fruit Quality in Peach Orchards

Guo,

Liu,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Plants

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Mulching practices have been used to improve peach growth and production across the globe. However, the impact of mulching on the physiochemical properties and soil characteristics of orchards remains largely unknown. This study aimed to decipher the impacts of various mulching patterns on the soil environment and the quality of Prunus persica fruit in “Zijinhuangcui”. Three treatments were set up, which included black ground fabric mulch (BF) and two living grass mulch treatments (HV: hairy vetch and RG: ryegrass). The results showed that different mulching treatments have different effects on soil, plant growth, and fruit quality. Living grass mulch treatments, especially the HV treatment, significantly improved soil nutrients by enhancing nitrogen-related indicators. Of note, the BF treatment had higher total phosphorus and available phosphorus contents than the HV and RG treatments. The HV treatment had the highest relative abundance of Proteobacteria (33.49%), which is associated with symbiotic nitrogen fixation, followed by RG (25.62%), and BF (22.38%) at the young fruit stage. Similarly, the abundance of Terrimonas, which has a unique nitrogen fixation system at the genus level, was significantly higher in the living grass mulch (HV, 1.30–3.13% and RG, 2.27–4.24%) than in the BF treatment. Living grass mulch also promoted tree growth, increased fruit sugar content, sugar-related components, and sugar-acid ratio, and reduced the acid content. Collectively, the findings of this study show that living grass mulch can promote tree growth and improve fruit quality by improving soil fertility, bacterial diversity, and richness.

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“…Weed seed germination can be potentially affected by soil temperature and moisture fluctuations (Bristow 1988;Egley 1986). A mulch on the soil surface intercepts solar radiation, thereby reducing the maximum soil temperature but may have a little effect on the minimum soil temperature (Hoyt and Hargrove, 1986;Bristow, 1988;Fortin and Pierce, 1991;. Soil moisture levels may be higher under surface residue when compared to bare soil (Hoyt and Hargrove 1986;Bristow 1988).…”

Section: Cereal Ryementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A mulch on the soil surface intercepts solar radiation, thereby reducing the maximum soil temperature but may have a little effect on the minimum soil temperature (Hoyt and Hargrove, 1986;Bristow, 1988;Fortin and Pierce, 1991;. Soil moisture levels may be higher under surface residue when compared to bare soil (Hoyt and Hargrove 1986;Bristow 1988). Therefore, a cover crop residue could affect weed seed germination due to the influence on soil moisture, temperature, and light availability to the seeds on or near the soil surface .…”

Section: Cereal Ryementioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing a cereal rye cover crop to manage herbicide-resistant horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) and waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) in soybean production systems

Dearden

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Legume Cover Crops for Improving Crop and Soil Management in the Southern United States

Cited by 55 publications

References 36 publications

Effect of planting and mowing cover crops as livestock feed on soil quality and pear production

Effect of planting and mowing cover crops as livestock feed on soil quality and pear production

Effects of Different Mulching Practices on Soil Environment and Fruit Quality in Peach Orchards

Utilizing a cereal rye cover crop to manage herbicide-resistant horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) and waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) in soybean production systems

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