Weed management in cereals with cover crops - do they help of hinder?

Summary

Sustainable crop production calls for integrated weed management approaches. Cover crops (CCs) have been studied primarily in the context of soil fertility and soil structure but they might also supplement the weed management toolbox, particularly when adapted to long-term control strategies. The challenge in organic cropping is to provide strong weed suppression without severely compromising weed species diversity and crop yields. Several CC species, mainly sown in mixtures, were studied in organically cropped 3-year field experiments in southern Finland. The study was part of the PRODIVA project (Core Organic Plus 2015-2018) in which crop diversification for better weed management has been studied and presented in the 18th EWRS Symposium.