The Potential of Multi-Species Mixtures to Diversify Cover Crop Benefits

Cover crops provide a range of well-documented benefits to growers and the environment. However, no single species can deliver all of these benefits, and hence planting mixtures is gaining increasing attention. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review on different multi-mix str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2020-03, Vol.12 (5), p.2058
Main Authors: Chapagain, Tejendra, Lee, Elizabeth A., Raizada, Manish N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Biomass
Compatibility
Complementarity
Composition
Cover crops
Criteria
Crop growth
Crop rotation
Cropping systems
Crops
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Grasses
Legumes
Mixtures
Nitrogen
Oats
Radishes
Red clover
Sorghum
Soybeans
Species diversity
Wheat
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Summary:Cover crops provide a range of well-documented benefits to growers and the environment. However, no single species can deliver all of these benefits, and hence planting mixtures is gaining increasing attention. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review on different multi-mix strategies. This article reviews available studies on multi-mixes, focusing on temperate North America, and discusses objective criteria for selecting components of a multi-mix and what future research is needed. Very few peer-reviewed studies on multi-mixes are currently available; a diversity of species compositions is being tested with a wide range of potential benefits but also with various limitations. Selection of species in multi-mixes is based on different criteria that help improve multiple ecosystem services. An emerging concept is the importance of selecting cover crop species with functional complementarity rather than simply increasing the number of species. Based on this concept, objective criteria have been developed to select the species for a multi-mix: grower objectives/primary purpose of planting the cover crop, crop rotation and cropping system compatibility, above and belowground compatibility, complementarity of different ecosystem functions, compatibility with the growing environment, duration for cover crop growth, termination option(s) available, input/labour costs, planting equipment required, persistence/weediness, and potential net economic returns. We propose a step-wise procedure to develop effective multi-species mixtures. The number of species and their ratio in the mixtures will depend on objective criteria, and hence long-term research is required to assess different species compositions and their impacts.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12052058