Carabid beetles and ground-dwelling spiders inhabiting agroecosystems are beneficial organisms with a potential to control pest species. Intensification of agricultural management and reduction of areas covered by non-crop vegetation during recent decades in some areas has led to many potentially serious environmental problems including a decline in the diversity and abundance of beneficial art...

Today, planting winter cover crops to reduce herbicide is high considered. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of barley grass cover crop on control weed of flix weld (Descurainia Sophia). This experiment was conducted at agricultural farm of Rezvan Junior College in kerman provinces (latitude 25 55 / N, longitude 53 26 / E , altitude 1755m) from September 2010 to April 2011. A ...

 In order to evaluate the effects of cover crops on reduced weed biomass in hybrid sunflower an experiment was carried in the research stations, Natural Resources Medicinal Plants (Samian_Ardabile) with 3 replicates in 1390-1391. The first factor was considered three type of cover crops, winter rye, spring barley, winter wheat with 2 control treatment, second factor was mulch management at two ...

A Louisiana sugarcane field is typically replanted every four years due to declining yields, and, although, it is a costly process, it is both necessary and an opportunity to maximize the financial return during the next four year cropping cycle. Fallow planting systems (FPS) during the fallow period prior to replanting sugarcane have the potential to influence not only the following sugarcane ...

Conservation tillage combined with cover crops or mulching may enhance natural enemy activity in agroecosystems by reducing soil disturbance and increasing habitat structural complexity. In particular, weed seed predation can increase with vegetation cover and reduced tillage, indicating that mulches may improve the quality of the habitat for weed seed foraging. The purpose of this study was to...

Organic agricultural production has become a major economic and cultural force. However, in water-limited environments the tools used for weed control and nutrient supply, namely tillage and cover crops, may not be environmentally or economically sustainable as tillage damages soil and cover crops use valuable water. Thus, a major challenge has been finding appropriate ways to minimize tillage ...

The yield of rainfed crops is commonly limited by the availability of soil water during the summer growing season. Channels produced by cover crop roots in fall/winter when soils are relatively moist may facilitate the penetration of compacted soils by subsequent crop roots in summer when soils are relatively dry and hard. Our objective was to determine the effects of fall cover crops on maize ...

17 Maize is the world’s most widely grown cereal on the basis of Mg produced (FAO, 2014). Nitrogen fertilizer applied to cropland is a considerable portion of the cost and energy input associated with nonlegume crop production (Liebman et al., 2012). When N is lost from cropland, it represents both a fi nancial loss to producers and has a potentially negative impact on the environment (Vetsch a...

The availability of Haber-Bosch nitrogen (N) has permitted agricultural intensification and increased the productive capacity of agroecosystems; however, approximately 50% of this applied fertilizer N is lost from agricultural landscapes. Extensive efforts have been devoted to improving the N use efficiency of these systems. Diversified crop rotations using cover crops to provide a variety of e...

Cover crops are important components of sustainable agricultural systems. They increase surface residue and aid in the reduction of soil erosion. They improve the structure and water-holding capacity of the soil and thus increase the effectiveness of applied N fertilizer. Legume cover crops such as hairy vetch and crimson clover fix nitrogen and contribute to the nitrogen requirements of subseq...