Effect of Cover Cropping on Soil Fertility Under Arecanut Plantation

Abstract

Arecanut cultivation in Kerala:and some parts of Mysore State is mostly found on highly undulating to rolling lands. In very few instances the land is cut, levelled and plantation taken up. Never-the-less, the lard remains without any, vegatative cover making it more vulnerable to erosion under high rainfall conditions. Due to heavy loss of soil and plant nutrients through erosion the fertility of many planted land has reached to a critically low level thus decreasing the yields. The primary deficiency observed for the low >j.elds is that of available nitrogen, The crop responds to the artificial fertilizer but this does not give the lasting improvement in soil fertility which follows organic enrichment.