COVER CROPS AND GREEN MANURE
The cultivation of cover crops and green manure crops, grown between two main crops, is an agri-environmental practice that has various advantages:
- Weed control; the constant soil cover leaves less space for weeds to establish.
- Produce and restore abundant biolife in the soil.
- Allow the recirculation of mineral elements. Some cover crops have the ability to root deeply and get nutrients that common crops have difficulties to reach. Other crops capture the fertilizing elements of the fertilizers and slurry applied and avoid their bleaching to the water tables.
- Fix nitrogen thanks to legumes.
- Limit the loss of water and limit erosion caused by wind.
- Reduce thermal differences at ground level and protect micro-organisms and the biosphere in the soil from UV rays.
- Reduce the impact of the passage of machinery.
- Decompact the soil in depth thanks to the root systems of the plants.
- Take advantage of the restructuring and antierosion effect of the superficial soil allowed by the root fasciculate system of grasses.
- Use the extra nitrates in the soil preventing the percolation into the ground table waters.
- Increase biodiversity.
- Break the life cycle of pests responsible of many plant diseases.
- Increase fertility (organic matter and biological life) of the soil and thus increase the productivity of subsequent crops.
- Reduce chemical inputs (fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides) and therefore production costs.
Several short-cycle species are available, suitable as cover crop or green manure and different compositions of mixtures can be formulated. It is up to each producer to determine the goals he wishes to achieve.
The mixtures can be formulated using the following components:
- Trifoglio pratense / Red clover / Trifolium pratense
- Lupinella / Sainfoin / Onobrychis viciifolia
- Veccia vellutata / Hairy vetch / Vicia villosa
- Trifoglio incarnato / Crimson clover / Trifolium incarnatum
- Trifoglio alessandrino / Berseem clover / Trifolium alexandrinum
- Trifoglio resupinato / Persian clover / Trifolium resupinatum
- Trifoglio squarroso / Trifolium squarrosum
- Veccia comune / Common vetch / Vicia sativa
- Pisello da foraggio / Forage pea / Pisum sativum ssp. Arvense
- Veccia pannonica / Hungarian vetch / Vicia pannonica
- French serradella / Ornithopus sativus
- Rafano decompattante / Oil radish / Raphanus sativus ssp. Longipinnatus
- Loietto italico / Italian ryegrass / Lolium multiflorum ssp. Italicum
- Loietto italico westerwoldico / Annual ryegrass / Lolium multiflorum ssp. Westerwoldicum
- Avena forestiera / Bristle oat / Avena strigosa
- Facelia / Phacelia / Phacelia tanacetifolia
- Colza / Forage rape / Brassica napus
- Buckwheat / Fagopyrum esculentum
- Camelina / False flax / Camelina sativa
- Niger / Guizotia abyssinica
Nematode control:
- Senape Bianca / White mustard / Sinapis alba
- Senape Bruna / Indian mustard / Brassica juncea
- Rafano / Oil radish / Raphanus sativus
