Rich with 17 detailed tables and 68 color photos, Cover Cropping for Vegetable Production is perhaps the most comprehensive, science-based book on cover cropping available to growers. This handbook brings together the expertise of more than 20 University of California experts in:
- Plant sciences
- Farm management
- Entomology
- Vegetable crops
- Weeds
- Sustainable agriculture
- Agricultural economics
- Cropping systems
- Nematology
- Plant pathology
What's inside?
The handbook describes primary cover crop species, including grasses, legumes, mustards and other cool-season and warm-season options. Photos, seeding details, winter vigor descriptions, nitrogen fixation and scavenging, weed suppression and nematode resistance are included for each species.
In addition to assisting with crop selection, this handbook addresses the effects of cover cropping on water management, pest management and farm economics.
For California growers, the handbook also discusses differences in cover crop use for the Central Valley, Desert and Coastal regions.
Chapters include:
- Botany and Species Selection
- Agricultural Soil Ecology
- Water Management and Impacts on Water Quality
- Soil Nitrogen Fertility Management
- Weeds
- Soilborne Pathogens
- Plant and Soil Nematodes
- Arthropods
- Cover Crop Management
- Regional Differences in Cover Crop Management
- Economics
Organic and conventional growers alike will find this handbook indispensable.