Cover crop

A cover crop is a plant that is used primarily to slow erosion, improve soil health, enhance water availability, smother weeds, help control pests and diseases.

Uses:

1. One of the primary uses of cover crops is to increase soil fertility. These types of cover crops are referred to as “green manure.”
2. Cover crop biomass acts as a physical barrier between rainfall and the soil surface, allowing raindrops to steadily trickle down through the soil profile. With increased water infiltration, the potential for soil water storage and the recharging of aquifers can be improved (Joyce et al. 2002).
3. Allelopathic properties of cover crops can suppress weeds, they can also break disease cycles and reduce populations of bacterial and fungal diseases (Everts 2002), and parasitic nematodes (Potter et al. 1998, Vargas-Ayala et al. 2000).
4. Some cover crops are used as so-called “trap crops”, to attract pests away from the crop of value and toward what the pest sees as a more favorable habitat (Shelton and Badenes-Perez 2006).