Cover Crops Grown Alone and in Consortia: Biomass Production, Nutrient Cycling of Residues and Relationships with Soil and Crop Productivity
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 March 2026 | Viewed by 34
Special Issue Editors
Interests: organic matter; cover crops; residue decomposition; nutrient cycling; soil fertility; soil management; plant nutrition; productivity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: organic matter; soil fertility; soil management; plant nutrition; productivity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Growing cover crops alone or in a consortium has already been shown to have beneficial effects on the physical, chemical, and biological attributes of the soil, as well as the plants’ bromatological attributes. However, a new form of intercropping has been gaining attention on the world stage, which involves mixing several cover crop seeds for simultaneous planting in the same area, before or in succession with commercial crops. This practice has several objectives, but none of them have yet been scientifically proven to have been achieved, as the information generated in the scientific environment quantifying and qualifying the influence of the residues left by these plant consortia on soil quality, its physicochemical composition, and the productivity of crops grown in succession is still incipient. This Special Issue aims to publicize studies on this subject (annual and perennial crops) and to clarify whether these objectives are achieved.
Prof. Dr. José Luiz Rodrigues Torres
Dr. Arcângelo Loss
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- cover crops
- biomass production
- nutrient cycling
- physical and chemical attributes
- production quality
- productivity
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