Publication Date: 2024/01/03
Abstract: Non-marketable crops are increasingly being used as a tool to promote agroecosystem services and sustainable agriculture. Nevertheless, crops vary greatly in the traits by which they capture resources and influence the local ecosystem. Here we report on the traits of wheat crop that relate to aboveground biomass production, nutrient capture, weed suppression and soil building by the influence of 4 different cover crops. All agroecosystem services were positively correlated with maximum crop biomass and leaf area. Root density was positively associated with indices of other soil building attributes; total organic carbon, total nitrogen and aggregate stability. Wheat with faba bean legume cover crop produced the highest standing N and P in aboveground biomass. Similarly, faba bean cover crop diminished the emission greenhouse gases; CO2 and CH3 in wheat crop to large extent from soil to atmosphere which is positive aspect in mitigation of climate change. Conversely, wheat with brown mustard cover crop had the highest level of weed suppression, butalso suppressed weed biomass and weed cover. Thus, not all cover crops are equal in their ability to promote all agroecosystem services in wheat, and while some cover crops may be ideal for promoting a specific agroecosystem service, this could result in an exchange with another. Nonetheless, our study demonstrates that plant functional traits of wheat are informative for the selection of cover crops for promoting agroecosystem services.
Keywords: Cover crops; greenhouse gases emission; nutrient capture; soil-plant interactions; soil and plant health.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10453175
PDF: https://ijirst.demo4.arinfotech.co/assets/upload/files/IJISRT23DEC1383.pdf
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