Cover crop

In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosysteman ecological system managed and shaped by humans. Cover crops can increase microbial activity in the soil, which has a positive effect on nitrogen availability, nitrogen uptake in target crops, and crop yields. Cover crops may be an off-season crop planted after harvesting the cash crop. Cover crops are nurse crops in that they increase the survival of the main crop being harvested, and are often grown over the winter. In the United States, cover cropping may cost as much as $35 per acre. Erosion Although cover crops can perform multiple functions in an agroecosystem simultaneously, they are often grown for the sole purpose of preventing soil erosion. Soil erosion is a process that can irreparably reduce the productive capacity of an agroecosystem. Cover crops reduce soil loss by improving soil structure and increasing infiltration, protecting the soil surface, scattering raindrop energy, and reducing the velocity of the movement of water over the soil surface. Dense cover crop stands physically slow down the velocity of rainfall before it contacts the soil surface, preventing soil splashing and erosive surface runoff. Additionally, vast cover crop root networks help anchor the soil in place and increase soil porosity, producing suitable habitat networks for soil macrofauna. It keeps the enrichment of the soil good for the next few years. Green manure One of the primary uses of cover crops is to increase soil fertility. These types of cover crops are referred to as "green manure". They are used to manage a range of soil macronutrients and micronutrients. Of the various nutrients, the impact that cover crops have on nitrogen management has received the most attention from researchers and farmers because nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient in crop production.

Winter post-droughts amplify extreme nitrate concentrations in German rivers

Using machine learning to generate an open-access cropland map from satellite images time series in the Indian Himalayan region

Using machine learning to generate an open-access cropland map from satellite images time series in the Indian Himalayan region

Winter post-droughts amplify extreme nitrate concentrations in German rivers