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Some cover crops are used as so-called "trap crops", to attract pests away from the crop of value and toward what the pest sees as a more favorable habitat. [44] Trap crop areas can be established within crops, within farms, or within landscapes. In many cases, the trap crop is grown during the same season as the food crop being produced.
A field of clover, a green manure crop. In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically cultivated to be incorporated into the soil while still green. [ 1] Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) manure. The primary goal is to add organic matter to the soil for its benefits.
Rapeseed is also used as a cover crop in the US during the winter as it prevents soil erosion, produces large amounts of biomass, suppresses weeds and can improve soil tilth with its root system. Some cultivars of rapeseed are also used as annual forage and are ready for grazing livestock 80 to 90 days after planting. [21]
The use of cover crops to help control weeds also increases organic residue in the soil (and nutrients, when using legumes). [34] Cover crops then need to be killed so that the newly planted crops can get enough light, water, nutrients, etc. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] This can be done by rollers, crimpers, choppers and other ways.
Rye is a useful forage crop in cool climates; it grows vigorously and provides plentiful fodder for grazing animals, or green manure to improve the soil. [48] It forms a good cover crop in winter with its rapid growth and deep roots. [49] Rye straw is used as livestock bedding, despite the risk of ergot poisoning. [50]
Living mulch. In agriculture, a living mulch is a cover crop interplanted or undersown with a main crop, and intended to serve the purposes of a mulch, such as weed suppression and regulation of soil temperature. Living mulches grow for a long time with the main crops, whereas cover crops are incorporated into the soil or killed with herbicides.
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