This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
The idea to grow a crop that improves the land and prepares itfor other crops is thousands of years old. But scientists continueto search for new and better ways to use what are called covercrops.
Aref Abdul-Baki is with the Agricultural Research Service of theUnited States Department of Agriculture. He works at the SustainableAgricultural Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.
Mister Abdul-Baki has found some cover crops that resist wormsthat attack tomatoes. These crops are sunn hemp, cowpea and velvetbean. They are planted during the months when the main crops are notnormally grown. In states with moderate climates like Maryland andVirginia, the winter months are a good time to grow cover crops.
For tomatoes, cover crops can be planted in September. They canbe turned over in the soil in May. The same method can be used forother summer crops like peppers, sweet corn, green beans and somemelons.
After the cover crop is cut and turned, the result is a layer oforganic material. This will provide fertilizer for the new crop.Also, the cover crop provides extra nitrogen to the soil.
Cover crops mixed with soil into mulch prevents the growth ofunwanted plants. It also keeps soil from drying out and prevents theloss of soil.
In hot, dry parts of California, cover crops help keep down soiltemperatures. They also reduce water loss and erosion.
Mister Abdul-Baki has shown that cover crops can save farmers alot of money. Tomato farmers, for example, have used methyl bromideto treat their soil before they plant their tomatoes. This chemicalkills many kinds of organisms that harm crops. Such treatment canincrease the size of the harvest. But the government restricts theuse of methyl bromide. And countries have agreed to an internationaltreaty to ban it.
Mister Abdul-Baki has found that farmers who use cover crops withtomatoes save one-thousand-four hundred dollars per hectare. Farmerssave on chemicals and also fertilizer. And Mister Abdul-Baki saysthe farmer produce as many, or more, tomatoes per hectare ascompared to no use of cover crops.
Some cover crops provide enough seed for the next growing season.This can reduce costs even more.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Steve Ember.