Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society · 2025
Integrating Cover Crops as a BMP for Improving Soil Health into Commercial Vegetable Production Systems
Jalpa, L., Mylavarapu, R.
Export
Integrating Cover Crops as a BMP for Improving Soil Health i…
Abstract
Alternative sustainable management practices such as incorporation of cover crops into commercial crop production systems have been shown to positively influence physical, chemical, and biological aspects of soil health without negatively affecting the yields. Although the majority of soil health research has been conducted with field crops, benefits such as reduced loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), improved nutrient balances, and increased soil carbon levels were also found in rotational systems of cover crops with vegetables as the main crop. Due to limited information on the specificity of the parameters measured for soil health for specific soils, cropping systems, and ecosystems in Florida, a two-year field study has been initiated in a commercial vegetable-cover crop system. Data presented will focus on the physical parameters of soil health and will use saturated hydraulic conductivity and bulk density as indicators of soil pore space and water movement withing the soil profile in a commercial tomato-cover crop system produced on sandy soils.
Show all
Alternative sustainable management practices such as incorporation of cover crops into commercial crop production systems have been shown to positively influence physical, chemical, and biological aspects of soil health without negatively affecting the yields. Although the majority of soil health research has been conducted with field crops, benefits such as reduced loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), improved nutrient balances, and increased soil carbon levels were also found in rotational systems of cover crops with vegetables as the main crop. Due to limited information on the specificity of the parameters measured for soil health for specific soils, cropping systems, and ecosystems in Florida, a two-year field study has been initiated in a commercial vegetable-cover crop system. Data presented will focus on the physical parameters of soil health and will use saturated hydraulic conductivity and bulk density as indicators of soil pore space and water movement withing the soil profile in a commercial tomato-cover crop system produced on sandy soils.
Alternative sustainable management practices such as incorporation of cover crops into commercial crop production systems have been shown to positively influence physical, chemical, and biological aspects of soil health without negatively affecting the yields. Although the majority of soil health research has been conducted with field crops, benefits such as reduced loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), improved nutrient balances, and increased soil carbon levels were also found in rotational systems of cover crops with vegetables as the main crop. Due to limited information on the specificity of the parameters measured for soil health for specific soils, cropping systems, and ecosystems in Florida, a two-year field study has been initiated in a commercial vegetable-cover crop system. Data presented will focus on the physical parameters of soil health and will use saturated hydraulic conductivity and bulk density as indicators of soil pore space and water movement withing the soil profile in a commercial tomato-cover crop system produced on sandy soils.
Findings
What changed what, as the paper reports it. Grouped by the measured property.
Similar papers
Investigating the Impacts of Tillage and Cover Crop Management on Soil Compaction in Long‐Term Agricultural Production Sites Using a Home‐Built Dynamic Penetrometer
Liebhard et al. · 2026 · Soil Use and Management
5 shared concepts
35 findings20 sites
Tillage and Cover Cropping Affect Crop Yields and Soil Carbon in the San Joaquin Valley, California
Mitchell et al. · 2015 · Agronomy Journal
4 shared concepts
16 findings1 site
Twenty two years of tillage and mulching impacts on soil physical characteristics and carbon sequestration in Central Ohio
Kahlon, Lal & Ann-Varughese · 2013 · Soil and Tillage Research
3 shared concepts