Selecting the right cover crop gives multiple benefits

Ingels, Chuck; Horn, Mark Van; Bugg, Robert L.; Miller, Perry R.

doi:10.3733/ca.v048n05p43

Cited by 41 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…This information, along with data on the yield benefits provided by various planting mixtures, must be integrated into existing crop management systems for several reasons. Certain cover crops can be incompatible with the agricultural practices used on the main crop (Ingels 1994); others can have allelopathic effects on crop plants (Summers et al 2009); and cover cropping may not be desirable for some particularly high value crops, or in cases where the appropriate cover crops for …”

Section: Cover Crops and Crop Rotationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Hodson¹,

Lewis²

2016

Calif Agr

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A "healthy" soil can be thought of as one that functions well, both agronomically and ecologically, and one in which soil biodiversity and crop management work in synergy to suppress pests and diseases. UC researchers have pioneered many ways of managing soil biology for pest management, including strategies such as soil solarization, steam treatment and anaerobic soil disinfestation, as well as improvements on traditional methods, such as reducing tillage, amending soil with organic materials, and cover cropping. As managing for soil health becomes more of an explicit focus due to restrictions on the use of soil fumigants, integrated soil health tests will be needed that are validated for use in California. Other research needs include breeding crops for disease resistance and pest suppressive microbial communities as well as knowledge of how beneficial organisms influence plant health.

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Section: Cover Crops and Crop Rotationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Hodson¹,

Lewis²

2016

Calif Agr

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“…It is important to make the correct choice of a living mulch (Ingels et al 1994). According to Ilnicki and Enache (1992), to avoid competition with the main crop in the subterranean clover cropping system, it is essential to use species and cultivars which have a low canopy height and terminate vegetative growth early in the summer.…”

Section: Selection Of Suitable Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living Mulch as a Tool to Control Weeds in Agroecosystems: A Review

Mohammadi¹

2012

Weed Control

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“…Living mulch is defined as a mixed cropping system, in which one partner acts chiefly as a live soil cover for a considerable part of the life cycle of the main crop (Liedgens et al, 2004). These kinds of mulches are well suited to use in vineyards or fruit crops (Váradi et al, 1989;Ingels et al, 1994), but even in established orchards a living mulch growing along the planted row may depress crop growth (Domange, 1993;Marks, 1993). A ground cover that is actively growing in the summer takes up water; and this is a severe disadvantage in irrigated orchards, where water is limited and expensive (Ames and Kuepper, 2004 Black polyethylene mulches are used for weed control in a range of crops under the organic growing system (Bond and Grundy, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mulching as an alternative technique for weed management in mandarin orchard tree rows

Verdú¹,

Mas²

2007

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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-Moving towards sustainable agriculture implies exploring the interconnections between farming and the environment, and soil is a key component of sustainability. Mulching is one of the methods to protect and enhance the productivity of the soil. We studied here the effect of mulching applied to mandarin tree rows for weed control in two localities near Tortosa, Spain, to compare its performance with the present chemical weed control system using the herbicide glyphosate. Three mulches were tested in each citrus orchard: rice straw, almond husk and black geotextile. Five plots per treatment, that is, three mulches, glyphosate application and control, were arranged following a randomized block design. Each plot was five trees long and its width was the distance between the two drip-lines. Just before mulch installation, bags containing non-dormant seeds of Amaranthus retroflexus and Diplotaxis erucoides were buried at three depths, and were exhumed one year later. After exhumation, sets of 250 seeds were placed in incubators and cumulative germination was obtained. Moreover, the weed flora was monitored at the two localities on four dates over one year and its total cover was evaluated. Seeds of A. retroflexus and D. erucoides showed the highest germination below almond husk, 90.9% and 96.2%, respectively. In total 74 species were recorded covering the mandarin tree rows. Our results indicated that black geotextile and almond husk controlled the presence of weeds as well as or better than the applications of glyphosate at least during the first year after their introduction. No significant differences were found between the mean weed cover of black geotextile (0.88%), almond husk (4.04%) and herbicide plots (2.04%). Altogether, our results show that mulching is one weed control strategy in mandarin orchards that also provides other benefits in terms of sustainable agriculture, such as soil protection or avoiding herbicide pollution.citrus / Amaranthus / Diplotaxis /seed germination / cover / almond husk / rice straw / black geotextile

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Selecting the right cover crop gives multiple benefits

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Living Mulch as a Tool to Control Weeds in Agroecosystems: A Review

Mulching as an alternative technique for weed management in mandarin orchard tree rows

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