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Smother Crop
A smother crop is a thick, rapidly growing crop that is used to suppress or stop the growth of weeds which have better root systems that help them compete with weeds for water and as a result, the root systems of weeds get weak. Meanwhile, the dense top growth of the smother crop suppresses the top growth of weeds. Effectively, smother crops successfully compete with weeds for vital resources (growth, space, water, light) and inhibit their germination and growth. Once the smother crop has served its purpose, it is ploughed under along with the weakened weeds, thus providing green fertilizer. A good smother crop must compete strongly with weeds but minimally with the crop. Smother crops reduce dependence on chemical weed control, and are sometimes used in the transition to organic farming. Secondary benefits of such crops include helping nitrogen fixation in soil (if legumes are used) and reducing soil erosion. Alfalfa, hemp, rye, buckwheat, sorghum, Sudan grass, foxtail millet, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweetclover
''Melilotus'', known as melilot, sweet clover, and kumoniga (from the Cumans),Bulgarian Folk Customs, Mercia MacDermott, pg 27 is a genus in the family Fabaceae (the same family that also includes the ''Trifolium'' clovers). Members are known as common grassland plants and as weeds of cultivated ground. Originally from Europe and Asia, it is now found worldwide. This legume is commonly named for its sweet smell, which is due to the presence of coumarin in its tissues. Coumarin, though responsible for the sweet smell of hay and newly mowed grass, has a bitter taste, and, as such, possibly acts as a means for the plant to discourage consumption by animals. Fungi (including ''Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium'', and ''Mucor'') can convert coumarin into dicoumarol, a toxic anticoagulant. Consequently, dicoumarol may be found in decaying sweet-clover, and was the cause of the so-called sweet-clover disease, recognized in cattle in the 1920s. A few varieties of sweet clover have bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pest Control
Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range from tolerance, through deterrence and management, to attempts to completely eradicate the pest. Pest control measures may be performed as part of an integrated pest management strategy. In agriculture, pests are kept at bay by mechanical, cultural, chemical and biological means. Ploughing and cultivation of the soil before sowing mitigate the pest burden, and crop rotation helps to reduce the build-up of a certain pest species. Concern about environment means limiting the use of pesticides in favour of other methods. This can be achieved by monitoring the crop, only applying pesticides when necessary, and by growing varieties and crops which are resistant to pests. Where possible, biological means are used, encouraging the natural enem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch Crop
In agriculture, a catch crop is a fast-growing crop that is grown between successive plantings of a main crop. For example, radishes that mature from seed in 25–30 days can be grown between rows of most vegetables, and harvested long before the main crop matures. Or, a catch crop can be planted between the spring harvest and fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ... planting of some crops. Catch cropping is a type of succession planting. It makes more efficient use of growing space. Catch crops are also crops that are sown to prevent minerals being flushed away from the soil: crops such as grain are used to keep certain minerals not attached to the soil-clay connection in the soil. References Crops {{Agri-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trap Crop
A trap crop is a plant that attracts agricultural pests, usually insects, away from nearby crops. This form of companion planting can save the main crop from decimation by pests without the use of pesticides. /sup> A trap crop is used for attracting the insect and pests away from the field. /sup> Many trap crops have successfully diverted pests off of focal crops in small scale greenhouse, garden and field experiments; a small portion of these plants have been shown to reduce pest damage at larger commercial scales. A common explanation for reported trap cropping failures, is that attractive trap plants only protect nearby plants if the insects do not move back into the main crop. In a review of 100 trap cropping examples in 2006, only 10 trap crops were classified as successful at a commercial scale, and in all successful cases, trap cropping was supplemented with management practices that specifically limited insect dispersal from the trap crop back into the main crop. Examples ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover Crop
In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosysteman ecological system managed and shaped by humans. Cover crops may be an off-season crop planted after harvesting the cash crop. They may grow over winter. Cover crops are nurse crops in that they increase the survival of the main crop being harvested. Soil erosion Although cover crops can perform multiple functions in an agroecosystem simultaneously, they are often grown for the sole purpose of preventing soil erosion. Soil erosion is a process that can irreparably reduce the productive capacity of an agroecosystem. Cover crops reduce soil loss by improving soil structure and increasing infiltration, protecting the soil surface, scattering raindrop energy and reducing the velocity of the movement of water over the so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silage
Silage () is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep and other such ruminants (cud-chewing animals). The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ''ensiling'' or ''silaging''. Silage is usually made from grass crops, including maize, sorghum or other cereals, using the entire green plant (not just the grain). Silage can be made from many field crops, and special terms may be used depending on type: ''oatlage'' for oats, ''haylage'' for alfalfa (''haylage'' may also refer to high dry matter silage made from hay). Silage can be made using several methods, largely dependent on available technology, local tradition or prevailing climate. Production The crops most often used for ensilage are the ordinary grasses, clovers, alfalfa, vetches, oats, rye and maize. Many crops have ensilaging potential, including potatoes and various weeds, notably spurre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calendula
''Calendula'' () is a genus of about 15–20 species''Calendula''. Flora of China. of and s in the daisy |
Foxtail Millet
Foxtail millet, scientific name ''Setaria italica'' (synonym ''Panicum italicum'' L.), is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of millet, and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidence of foxtail millet cultivation was found along the ancient course of the Yellow River in Cishan, China, carbon dated to be from around 8,000 years before present. Foxtail millet has also been grown in India since antiquity. Other names for the species include dwarf setaria, foxtail bristle-grass, giant setaria, green foxtail, Italian millet, German millet, and Hungarian millet. Description Foxtail millet is an annual grass with slim, vertical, leafy stems which can reach a height of . The seedhead is a dense, hairy panicle long. The small seeds, around in diameter, are encased in a thin, papery hull which is easily removed in threshing. Seed color varies greatly between varieties. File:Food grain foxtail millet.jpg, Seeds of foxt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Fertilizer
In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) manure. The primary goal is to add organic matter to the soil for its benefits. Green manuring is often used with legume crops to add nitrogen to the soil for following crops, especially in organic farming, but is also used in conventional farming. Functions Green manures usually perform multiple functions that include soil improvement and soil protection: * Leguminous green manures such as clover and vetch contain nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria in root nodules that fix atmospheric nitrogen in a form that plants can use. This performs the vital function of fertilization. :Depending on the species of cover crop grown, the amount of nitrogen released into the soil lies between 40 and 200 pounds per acre. With green manure use, the amount of nitrogen tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudan Grass
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. It has a population of 45.70 million people as of 2022 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres (728,215 square miles), making it Africa's List of African countries by area, third-largest country by area, and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum, secession of South Sudan in 2011, since which both titles have been held by Algeria. Its Capital city, capital is Khartoum and its most populated city is Omdurman (part of the metropolitan area of Khar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many others are used as fodder plants, either cultivated in warm climates worldwide or naturalized in pasture lands. Taxonomy ''Sorghum'' is in the Poaceae (grass) subfamily Panicoideae and the tribe Andropogoneae (the same as maize, big bluestem and sugarcane). Species Accepted species recorded include: Distribution and habitat Seventeen of the 25 species are native to Australia, with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Toxicity In the early stages of the plants' growth, some species of sorghum can contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and nitrates, which are lethal to grazing animals. Plants stressed by drought or heat can also contain toxic lev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
