Cover Crops and Green Manures: Providing Services to Agroecosystems

There is growing interest among farmers, policymakers, and society to produce food and fiber in cropping systems that optimize the economic, environmental, and social components of sustainability. The inclusion of cover crops in cash crop sequences is an outstanding sustainable management practice due to the multiple ecosystem services they provide. Cover crops promote soil carbon sequestration, and this action, combined with the effect of roots, improves soil's physical and biological properties. The increment in soil organic carbon also enhances soil fertility and thus plant nutrition. Moreover, cover crops interfere in the internal nutrient cycling by acting as catch crops during fallow periods and releasing the nutrients after their termination. The cover crops' effect on nutrient cycling affects both nutrient losses and cash crops productivity. All the ecosystem services that cover crops provide are interrelated, which complexifies their assessment in agroecosystems.

The adoption of cover crops by farmers is still limited, and one of the main causes is the restricted information on the benefits that these crops provide to the agroecosystems. One of the main interests is understanding how cover crops impact cash crops' productivity and quality, which will economically affect the production system. Information on cover crops management (e.g., planting and termination date, the proportion of each species in mixtures, etc.) on cash crops yield is still limited. Also, there is a lack of studies assessing the effect of cover crops on grain quality, which could affect grain prices and the quality of human and other animals’ diets.

Year after year, society demands food produced under sustainable and eco-friendly practices. In this regard, the inclusion of cover crops is an interesting option for organic and agroecological production systems due to their benefits. Studies relating to cash crops productivity and quality with ecosystem services are scarce. As well, analyses of how cover crops management could optimize ecosystem service benefits and minimize trade-offs are required. Lastly, it is necessary to provide scientific background to understand the mechanisms that define changes in the ecosystem services to cover cropping and support farmers' decisions with recommendations on cover crops management to achieve a sustainable agroecosystem.

This research topic will accept original articles, reviews, and synthesis-analysis exploring the inclusion of cover crops in agroecosystems and their relationship with:

 Nutrient cycling, soil fertility, and plant nutrition.

 Soil quality indicators and soil health

 Cash crops productivity and quality

 Soil biology and biodiversity

 Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration