Test Your Knowledge of Cover Crops in Agriculture!

Cover Crops in Agriculture

• Cover crops are plants grown to cover soil rather than for harvest, used to manage soil erosion, fertility, quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosystem.
• Cover crops prevent soil erosion by improving soil structure, increasing infiltration, protecting the soil surface, scattering raindrop energy and reducing the velocity of water movements.
• Green manure cover crops are used to manage soil macronutrients and micronutrients, particularly nitrogen, which is often limiting in crop production.
• Leguminous cover crops are high in nitrogen and can provide the required quantity for crop production, through biological nitrogen fixation.
• Cover crops improve soil quality by increasing soil organic matter levels, enhancing soil structure, water and nutrient holding capacity, and carbon sequestration.
• Cover crops reduce water runoff and increase soil moisture, which can improve water infiltration, soil water storage, and the recharging of aquifers.
• Cover crops compete well with weeds, reducing weed seed germination rates and biomass, and can suppress weeds through allelopathy.
• Cover crops can break disease cycles and reduce populations of bacterial and fungal diseases and parasitic nematodes.
• Some cover crops are used as trap crops to attract pests away from the crop of value and toward a more favorable habitat, while others attract natural predators of pests.
• Cover crops increase plant diversity and improve farm habitat for wildlife, supporting a higher level of wildlife diversity.
• Cover crop practices in agriculture are cost-effective, with cover cropping in the United States costing up to $35 per acre.
• Cover crops play a vital role in sustainable agriculture, reducing environmental impacts associated with chemical nitrogen fertilizer use, and maintaining or increasing future food production levels.