Abstract
Cover crops are widely used in both conventional and organic systems to protect and improve the soil. This study evaluated the effect of summer cover crop and management system on the production of fall romaine lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) and spring cantaloupe ( Cucumis melo L.) from 1999 to 2003. Cover crop treatments included cowpea [ Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] incorporated (CPI), cowpea used as mulch (CPM), sudangrass [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] incorporated (SGI), and a bare ground control (BG). The management system treatments included conventional (CON), integrated crop management (ICM), and organic (ORG). The CPM and SGI increased soil organic matter content and changed the soil N profile. Soil organic matter was higher and nitrate leaching was lower in the ORG system. The CPM plots had less weed growth during the lettuce crop, but higher weed biomass during the cantaloupe crop in the first year. During the cantaloupe season, weed biomass in the ORG increased over years relative to the CON system. The CPI plots had the highest lettuce yield in the first 2 yr, while SGI and CPI had higher cantaloupe yield. Lettuce yield in the ORG system increased over years relative to the CON system, but cantaloupe yield in the ORG system was lower in all four seasons. This study showed that cover crops could be used to improve cropping systems and that the soil and plants previously under long‐term conventional system changed significantly during organic transition.
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Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Cowpea mulch (CPM) and incorporated sudangrass (SGI) increased soil organic matter content.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and Cantaloupe
Cucumis melo var. cantalupo
Lactuca sativat0 - Treatment
- CPM and SGIe1
- Outcome
- soil organic matter contente1
- Direction
- increasede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e1“The CPM and SGI increased soil organic matter content and changed the soil N profile”
Claim · model-written summary
Cowpea mulch (CPM) and incorporated sudangrass (SGI) changed the soil N profile.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and CantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoLactuca sativat0
- Treatment
- CPM and SGIe1
- Outcome
- soil N profilee1
- Direction
- changede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e1“The CPM and SGI increased soil organic matter content and changed the soil N profile”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil organic matter was higher in the organic (ORG) management system.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and CantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoLactuca sativat0
- Treatment
- ORG systeme2
- Outcome
- Soil organic mattere2
- Direction
- highere2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e2“Soil organic matter was higher and nitrate leaching was lower in the ORG system”
Claim · model-written summary
Nitrate leaching was lower in the organic (ORG) management system.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and CantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoLactuca sativat0
- Treatment
- ORG systeme2
- Outcome
- nitrate leachinge2
- Direction
- lowere2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e2“Soil organic matter was higher and nitrate leaching was lower in the ORG system”
Claim · model-written summary
Cowpea mulch (CPM) plots had less weed growth during the lettuce crop.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae3
- Treatment
- CPM plotse3
- Interactor
- weede3weed
- Outcome
- weed growthe3
- Direction
- lesse3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“The CPM plots had less weed growth during the lettuce crop”
Claim · model-written summary
Cowpea mulch (CPM) plots had higher weed biomass during the cantaloupe crop in the first year.
- Taxon
- cantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoe4
- Treatment
- CPM plotse3
- Interactor
- weede4weed
- Outcome
- weed biomasse4
- Direction
- highere4
- Qualifier
- in the first yeare4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e3“The CPM plots had less weed growth during the lettuce crop”
e4“but higher weed biomass during the cantaloupe crop in the first year”
Claim · model-written summary
Weed biomass in the organic (ORG) system increased over years relative to the conventional (CON) system during the cantaloupe season.
- Taxon
- cantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoe5
- Treatment
- ORGe5
- Interactor
- weede5weed
- Outcome
- weed biomasse5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Qualifier
- over yearse5
- Comparator
- CON systeme5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“During the cantaloupe season, weed biomass in the ORG increased over years relative to the CON system”
Claim · model-written summary
The CPI plots had the highest lettuce yield in the first 2 years.
- Taxon
- lettuceLactuca sativae6
- Treatment
- CPI plotse6
- Outcome
- lettuce yielde6
- Direction
- higheste6
- Qualifier
- in the first 2 yre6
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e6“The CPI plots had the highest lettuce yield in the first 2 yr”
Claim · model-written summary
The SGI and CPI treatments had higher cantaloupe yield.
- Taxon
- cantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoe7
- Treatment
- SGI and CPIe7
- Outcome
- cantaloupe yielde7
- Direction
- highere7
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e7“while SGI and CPI had higher cantaloupe yield”
Claim · model-written summary
Lettuce yield in the organic (ORG) system increased over years relative to the conventional (CON) system.
- Taxon
- LettuceLactuca sativae1
- Treatment
- ORG systeme1
- Outcome
- Lettuce yielde1
- Direction
- increasede1
- Qualifier
- over yearse1
- Comparator
- CON systeme1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Lettuce yield in the ORG system increased over years relative to the CON system”
Claim · model-written summary
Cantaloupe yield in the organic (ORG) system was lower in all four seasons.
- Taxon
- cantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoe1
- Treatment
- ORG systeme1
- Outcome
- cantaloupe yielde1
- Direction
- lowere1
- Qualifier
- in all four seasonse1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“cantaloupe yield in the ORG system was lower in all four seasons”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil and plants previously under long-term conventional management changed significantly during organic transition.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and CantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoLactuca sativat0
- Outcome
- soil and plantse2
- Direction
- changed significantlye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e1“changed significantly during organic transition”
e2“the soil and plants previously under long”
Claim · model-written summary
Cover crops could be used to improve cropping systems.
- Taxon
- Lettuce and CantaloupeCucumis melo var. cantalupoLactuca sativat0
- Treatment
- cover cropse1
- Outcome
- improve cropping systemse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Lettuce and Cantaloupe Production System”
e1“cover crops could be used to improve cropping systems”
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See all 6 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.