Legume Cover Crops as One of the Elements of Strategic Weed Management and Soil Quality Improvement. A Review

Anna Kocira, Mariola Staniak, Marzena Tomaszewska, Rafał Kornas, Jacek Cymerman, Katarzyna Panasiewicz and Halina Lipińska
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Anna Kocira: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, State School of Higher Education in Chełm, Pocztowa 54, 22-100 Chełm, Poland
Mariola Staniak: Department of Forage Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation—State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Marzena Tomaszewska: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, State School of Higher Education in Chełm, Pocztowa 54, 22-100 Chełm, Poland
Rafał Kornas: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, State School of Higher Education in Chełm, Pocztowa 54, 22-100 Chełm, Poland
Jacek Cymerman: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, State School of Higher Education in Chełm, Pocztowa 54, 22-100 Chełm, Poland
Katarzyna Panasiewicz: Agronomy Department, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Dojazd 11, 60-632 Poznań, Poland
Halina Lipińska: Department of Grassland and Landscape Forming, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-41

Abstract: The benefits of conservation practices increased the interest of farmers in the cultivation of cover crops (CCs). This review aims to present and analyze the state of the art on the cultivation of legume CCs, including their importance in protecting crops against weeds, as well as their effects on organic matter and nitrogen content in the soil, physical and biological properties of the soil, and its erosion. The multi-purpose character of legume CCs is visible in their positive effect on reducing weed infestation, but also on the soil: reducing its compaction and erosion, improving its structural and hydraulic properties, increasing the content of organic matter and activity of soil microorganisms, or increasing its nitrogen content due to symbiotic N 2 fixing. This review demonstrates that a wider use of legume CCs in organic farming is needed. The benefits of legume CCs for successive crops in these cultivation conditions, both in terms of inhibiting weed populations and improving fertility and soil properties, also need to be identified. Further research is also needed to determine the potential impact of legume CCs on the improvement of the quality of degraded soils, or those with less favorable physicochemical properties.

Keywords: legume cover crop; weed control; organic matter; nitrogen; soil physical and biological properties; soil erosion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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