Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed up to now that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting. However, a recent study found only limited evidence that this is the case. Instead, mixed cover crops grow thinner roots than when just one single type of cover crop is planted. This result was unexpected. It documents how little is currently understood about the interactions between plant roots.
Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed up to now that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting. However, a recent study carried out by the University of Bonn, University of Kassel and University of Göttingen found only limited evidence that this is the case.
"Overall, this should mean that a mixture of crops will result in greater rooting of the entire soil profile," says Kemper."In agroforestry systems in which trees are also planted next to typical agricultural crops, this effect is actually observed. However, we were not able to find any evidence for this effect in the cover crops in our fields."
The researchers tested cover crops of oil radish, winter rye and crimson clover in their study. The plants were either sown as single or mixed cover crops. The scientists then investigated how the roots had penetrated the soil at different depths in late Fall. "We were surprised by the results," emphasizes Kemper:"Particularly positive effects were observed in the fields where oil radish and winter rye had been sown on their own. The roots of the winter rye favored the upper layers, while the roots of the oil radish penetrated significantly deeper." But what happened when oil radish was planted together with winter rye? Surprisingly, the root mass did not increase in all of the soil layers taken together as a result.
However, this painstaking work was worth the effort."There has so far only been rudimentary research carried out into the rooting performance of our arable crops," says Kemper."This means that there is still a lot of new things to discover."Alongside the University of Bonn, the other participants in the project were the University of Kassel and the University of Göttingen. The research was funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture .
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