All the countries are concerned for increasing the farming outturn for of increasing population. Good agriculture produce brings stability to a countrys economics. Thats why, partly all the governments are supporting the agriculture based researches. Cover crops or green manure crops are being used in all the parts of world as the orifice filling crops. These are low worthy crops and transfer less financial return to the farmers. However, if these are sowed in a well planned style, these deliver long lasting benefits to the soil.
Selection depends upon the environmental, social, biological, economic and cultural parameters. Legumes like cowpeas, soybeans, sweet laugher, guar, crotalaria, velvet beans and sesbania etc are popular summer season green manure crops. A catch crop is a cover crop that is established after harvesting the cash crop. Rye is widely used catch crop that is used as winter cover crop.
Ever increasing numbers of farm owners plant the cover crops for conserving soil, reducing off - farm input and enhancing production. Sustainable agriculture management has been major driving force for making the use of green manure crops widely acceptable and popular. Cover cropping accomplishes wide range of benefits. Cover crops control erosion by supporting the following processes:
Shielding the farm soil upper surface from direct impact of raindrops;
Holding the soil ingredients in place;
Preventing any crust formation;
Improving soil ' s capacity for absorbing water;
Slowing runoff velocity;
Cover crops improve the soil structure by adding more organic matter. Legume cover crop adds nitrogen to soil, which is very beneficial for cash crops. These support the natural insect, nematode and weed management by providing shelter and food for the much needed under soil insect species. Some cover crops are used as " trap crops " also to attract different pests, which are usually present near the farming area.
Using cover crops to attain the proven benefits needs the knowledge for perfect management. If these are not selected properly, these may deliver some negative results also. Some of those drawbacks are depletion of soil water content, competition to get more nutrients and water with adjacent crop if sowed along with, increased frost hazards in vineyards and orchards, increased insects, weed pests and nematode etc.
