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It is a known fact that cover crops are planted in the
garden to help perform numerous tasks in a given agroecosystem in a simultaneous
manner. Notably, your cover crops will prevent soil erosion as a major
function. This is due to the fact that the latter can irreparably destroy the
capacity of your agroecosystem. When you have a dense cover crop, it will stand
physically to slow down the rainfall velocity before contacting the surface of
the soil. Besides this, the cover crops prevent soil splashing in addition to
controlling the erosive surface runoff.
How to manage the soil fertility
Cover crops are immensely introduced in many farms owing
to their ability to increase the fertility of the soil. In this case, the cover
crops are always referred to as ‘green manure. They perform the noble task of
managing a wide range of both micronutrients and macronutrients in the soil.
As it works, green manure crops are normally grown for a
given period of time and later ploughed underneath the soil prior to reaching
the maturity age. This is always geared towards improving the quality and
fertility of the soil. As if that is not enough, the stalks of the green manure
left are equally used to block the soil from erosion.
Another important aspect that a farmer ought to learn
from green manure plants is that they are mostly leguminous. Therefore they are
always rich in nitrogen that is equally useful for the production of other
crops.
In the case of convectional farming, the nitrogen from
the green manure plants are always applied in the form of chemical fertilizer. It
is this cover crop quality that is always referred to as fertilizer replacement
value. Nevertheless, the cover crops endowed with legumes normally form a
symbiotic relationship with the bacterial rhizomes that are found in the root
nodules of the legumes.
Another key indicator is the idea of bringing nitrogen
into agroecosystems via a nitrogen fixation, kinds of cover crops referred to
as ‘catch crops’. These are also used for the retention and recycling of the
soil nitrogen. As it works, the catch crops consume the remaining surplus
nitrogen from the fertilization of the most recent crops, thereby preventing
its lost through leaching.
The catch crops are characteristically cereal crops that
grow very fast and are adapted in order to scavenge available nitrogen in the
atmosphere. The nitrogen found in the catch crop biomass will be released back
to the soil upon the incorporation of latter as green manure and/or should it
begin to decompose.
Finally, catch crops are vital when it comes to the
improvement of soil quality through the increase of the levels in soil organic
matter by the help of the cover crop biomass with time. With the increased
organic matter in the soil, there shall be enhanced soil structure, increased
nutrient and water holding capacity in addition to soil buffering capacity. The
importance of managing the soil quality is simply to offer finest environment
for the flourishment of the crops. Important factors of soil quality include:
i.
Soil salination
ii.
PH
iii.
Soil contamination prevention and
iv.
Microorganism balance