2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Cover crops provide potential benefits to crop production, soil and water quality, and soil health. They can greatly reduce soil erosion, capture and cycle nutrients, increase soil organic carbon, water infiltration, and microbial biomass, influence microbial diversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and suppress weeds. However, major challenges of adopting cover crops include plant establishment, species selection, soil moisture management, and cover crop termination. We hypothesized that planting cover crops would provide vegetative cover during abaca establishment and maintain soil health but not negatively affect abaca growth. The objectives of this study were: a) to determine if cover crops could be established under abaca; b) examine cover crop growth and biomass production of different species (broadleaf vs grass); c) determine total nitrogen in cover crops and soil; d) evaluate abaca growth to determine (positive, negative, or neutral) impact of cover crops. Cover crops (peanut-Arachis hypogaea, mung bean-Vigna radiata, upland rice-Oryza sativa) were seeded three weeks after transplanting of tissue cultured abaca. Peanut produced greater biomass (3.38 tons ha^-1) than mung bean (2.59 tons ha ^-1) and upland rice (1.86 tons ha ^-1). The total nitrogen and total carbon of cover crops averaged about 3% and 40%, respectively, regardless of species. Soil microbial biomass averaged about 520ug C g ^-1 soil at 0-15cm, and 396ug C g ^-1 soil at 15-30cm soil depth, and was similar among all treatments. Abaca growth parameters such as plant height, stem diameter, and number of leaves, were similar among control (no cover crop) and cover crop treatments. These results demonstrate that different cover crop species can be integrated successfully under abaca production system while maintaining abaca growth. These cover crops may be extremely important to help with erosion control especially during establishment.