Establishing summer cover crops before winter cereals in low tillage systems on sandy soils

Authors: Hauke Ahnemann, Hendrik Meyer

Problem: Periods without plant cover between cash crops increase the risk of N-leaching, weed development and soil erosion. This is especially true on sandy soils, where these effects can cause significant environmental and economic problems. In addition to this, these periods often provide low or no organic matter availability on the soil surface, resulting in a lack of nutrition for soil life, leading to the degradation of soil quality.

Solution: To avoid erosion during the summer period as well as guaranteeing the nutrition to soil life, the implementation of fast-growing cover crops is recommended.

zenodo.org: Establishing summer cover crops before winter cereals in low tillage systems on sandy soils