ISHS Acta Horticulturae 504: VI Symposium on Stand Establishment and ISHS Seed Symposium
WINTER ANNUAL COVER CROPS IN A NO-TILL COTTON PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN VIRGINIA |
| Authors: | J.B. Daniel, A.O. Abaye, M.M. Alley, C.W. Adcock, J.C. Maitland, W. Wilkinson |
| Keywords: | biomass, tillage, conservation, temperature, rainfall |
| Abstract:
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a low residue crop that may not provide sufficient surface residue to reduce erosion and protect the soil. A winter annual cover crop might alleviate erosion between cotton crops. This experiment was conducted to evaluate selected winter annual cover crops for biomass production, ground cover, and above-ground N assimilation. Six cover crops, crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), hairy vetch (Vicia vilosa L.), hairy vetch and rye (Secale cereale L.), rye, wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell.), and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.), and two tillage systems (conventional and no-till) were arranged in a split plot design with four replications. Percentage ground cover measurements were taken each year prior to desiccation and immediately after cotton planting for 1995 and 1996, and in 1997 additional measurements were taken fifty days after cotton planting. Hairy vetch + rye, rye, and wheat provided the most ground cover after cotton planting, while lupin provided the least ground cover. All cover crops, with the exception of lupin, provided enough ground cover (>30%) after cotton planting to comply with Natural Resource Conservation Service conservation standards, except during years with below normal winter temperatures. Fifty days after cotton planting small grain residues provided more (P < 0.05) ground cover compared to legume residues. Averaged over the three experimental years, biomass production from the different cover crops ranged from 946 to 3,047 kg/ha. | |
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