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Towards identification of novel legume species of potential interest as cover crops and living mulches for the North Africa region.

Udupa , S. M.; Elhaddoury , J.; Krimi Bencheqroun , S; Thami-Alami , I.; Henkrar , F.; Baresel , J.P. and Finckh , M.R. (2014) Towards identification of novel legume species of potential interest as cover crops and living mulches for the North Africa region. In: 2nd International Conference of Plant Biodiversity.

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Summary

Subsidiary crops (SC) grown either as cover crops (CC) preceding or following the main crops, or as living mulches (LM) together with the main crops can deliver multiple ecological services within farming systems. These include increasing the duration of soil cover in the rotation, increasing plant and microbial diversity, improving plant health, soil health and fertility, minimizing the use of tillage and agrochemicals, enhancing biological N fixation and soil C content, and reducing water demand in dry climates. However, species available for growing as SC for dry areas are limited. To identify species of potential interest to CC and LM, we screened 197 accessions from the ICARDA genebank, belonging to 142 species/sub-species at Rabat, Morocco in one square meter plots. The preliminary assessments based on visual observations enabled us to identify: (1) 21 accessions belonging to Medicago and Trifolium species with prostrate growth habit, early maturity and senescence, determinate growth cycle and good potential for seed production, as potentially suitable for LM; and (2) 28 accessions belonging to Vicia, Lathyrus, Medicago and Trifolium species with high biomass and competitive ability, and also good potential for seed production, as potentially suitable for CC or green manure crops. Further evaluations in replicated trials are in progress. The selected accessions have been planted in the field during autumn 2013 at Sidi El Aidi.


EPrint Type:Conference paper, poster, etc.
Type of presentation:Poster
Keywords:Subsidiary crops, cover crops, living mulches
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
forage legumes
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36108
English
Cover crops
UNSPECIFIED
English
Germplasm
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3249
English
screening
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_330877
Subjects: Farming Systems > Farm nutrient management
Research affiliation: Morocco
Horizon Europe or H2020 Grant Agreement Number:289277
Deposited By: Udupa, Dr Sripada M.
ID Code:29913
Deposited On:30 Mar 2016 11:15
Last Modified:30 Mar 2016 11:15
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Not peer-reviewed

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