Cover crops for soil health and sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Cover crops (CCs) either alone or in association with row crop rotation have long been considered as a favourable practice to conserve soil, water and nutrients apart from its role for ecological benefits. CCs are one of the viable options for sustainable agriculture through their beneficial effects on soil. However, several benefits of CCs depend largely on type of climatic conditions, selection of species, association with main crops, root system architecture, time of planting and its termination. Moreover, the species of CCs having fibrous root systems are found to have better soil by checking erosion and increasing adherence of soil particles. However, investigation is needed on effect of CCs on associated crops, its long term impact on soil quality, and benefits in terms of sub-surface soil layers etc. Nevertheless, there are number of positive effects of CCs on soil as well as overall ecology for achieving the goal of sustainable and regenerative agriculture.