Production of Vegetables Using Cover Crop and Living Mulches—A Review

ABSTRACT

Living and cover crop mulches can reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers in vegetable production. Cover crop mulches are commonly small grains or legumes that are killed prior to planting the vegetable crop. Cover crop mulches modify the microclimate and release allelochemicals that affect weed and insect populations. Living mulches are grasses, legumes or Brassica species that grow with the vegetable crop. Living mulches will reduce pest populations but are difficult to manage in vegetable cropping systems because they compete with the crop. Strip tillage or the application of low rates of herbicides may reduce the competitiveness of living mulches, allowing their use in vegetable production.

KEYWORDS:

• Reduced tillage
• relay cropping
• intercropping
• allelopathy