Living Mulch Systems for Sustainable Crop Production
Summary
Living mulch systems integrate cover crops directly within cash‐crop rows, providing continuous soil cover, enhanced nutrient cycling and improved biological regulation of pests and diseases. By maintaining an active root network throughout the growing season, living mulches reduce erosion, improve water infiltration and contribute to soil organic carbon accumulation. They also support beneficial soil organisms, including nitrogen‐fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, which can synchronise nutrient release with crop demand. Proper management balances the benefits of resource retention and biodiversity with the potential for competition between mulch and cash crop. Techniques such as targeted suppression, temporal or spatial separation and careful species selection have been shown to mitigate competition and optimise yields. Globally, living mulch systems offer a pathway towards sustainable intensification, delivering ecosystem services that bolster resilience to climate variability, reduce reliance on synthetic inputs and support perennial groundcover strategies in both temperate and tropical regions.
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Living Mulch Systems for Sustainable Crop Production publication trend
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Technical terms
Living mulch: A non‐woody cover crop grown concurrently with a main crop to protect soil, suppress weeds and enhance ecosystem services.
Agro-ecological practice: A farming approach that applies ecological principles and biodiversity to improve sustainability and resilience of production systems.
Strip tillage: A conservation tillage method that tills only narrow bands where crops are planted, leaving inter-row soil undisturbed to maintain structure and organic matter.
Nitrogen fixation: The biological conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into forms usable by plants, typically mediated by symbiotic bacteria associated with certain cover crops.
References
- EPIC model simulation to assess effective agro-ecological practices for climate change mitigation and adaptation in organic vegetable system. Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2022).
- Integrated management of living mulches for weed control: A review. Weed Technology (2021).
- Kura Clover Living Mulch: Spring Management Effects on Nitrogen. Agronomy (2019).
- Regenerating Agricultural Landscapes with Perennial Groundcover for Intensive Crop Production. Agronomy (2019).
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