Cover Crops for Sustainable Agriculture Production

Cover Crops for Sustainable Agriculture Production

Introduction

Grain Production in Australia

Sustainable food production in Australia is said to be an independent goal to achieve food production profitability in modern day. The main problems faced by Australian grains industry are soil erosion, salinity and nitrate leaching. In order to gain economic benefits, more grain production and keeping the environment healthy, it is important to keep the soil productive, systematic and nitrogen conversion optimization for yield in grains.

Growing of grain legumes have returned poorly to Australian grain industry that is why cereal crops now dominate it. In Australia, it is considered to be a dangerous situation because growth of cereal crops cost more energy because of more fertilizers consumption then leguminous crops like lupins.

For a sustainable agriculture in Australia and most importantly for sustainable growth of grains in the country it is important to understand the need of few technologies that may help to curb the soil erosion and increase soil productivity. Among other technologies, cover crops are the most widely used technique for sustainable agriculture production.

Discussion

Through analysis of different situations, it is estimated that by 2050 increase in food demands will reach up to 70% due to increase in population and changing nature of diets in different countries. Bio-fuels and industrial material requirement will also increase because of the reduction in fossils and hydrocarbons. Other than these factors, reduction in natural resources and change in climate is also making the conditions severe. Despite of these complications in food production, considerations regarding sustainable development are still under estimated in the process of policy making. The question arises that which best and systematic technique will ensure the sustainable food production which can compete with the environmental changes also.

High yield of production can be provided through sustainable agriculture production and it also does not undermine the resources and natural systems on which productivity of food or grains is dependent. Adoption of a sustainable approach allows farmers to work efficiently using natural processes despite of ignoring them. One best advantage of using natural resources is that pesticides and fertilizers are not used frequently, cost effective and also protect future productivity along with the environment. Some of the common environmental and technological agriculture techniques for sustainable agriculture (food, grains etc.) to control weeds, pest, diseases, erosion and high quality soil are:

Crop Rotations

Soil Enrichment

Cover Crops

Natural predators for insects

Bio-intensive Integrated Pest Management

Though all of the above technologies are used widely all around the world according to the suitable conditions but cover crops is the one that is mostly used and discussed for sustainable grain or agriculture production.



Cover Crops

The small grains, legumes or grasses that are grown between regular periods of grain production for protection and improvement of the soil are called cover crops. Wheat, rye, legumes, oats, corn, soya beans etc. serve as cover crops in different regions according to the season. Cover crops are grown to reduce the soil erosion, improvement in soil productivity, less weeds production, for availability of ...