What Are Green Manure Crops? An Introduction to Common Green Manure Crop Types
How much do you know about green manure? Want to find out? Then let's take a look together. See how much you know about green manure?
1. About Green Manure
Taiwan, China is located in the subtropics, with a hot and humid climate. Organic matter in the soil decomposes relatively quickly, and soil nutrients are easily lost through intense leaching, resulting in poor soil fertility. In earlier times, farming families mostly planted green manure crops or made their own compost to improve the soil and sustain agricultural production. By the 1960s, chemical fertilizers came into widespread use. Because they save labor and act quickly, chemical fertilizers were used in large quantities to raise agricultural productivity. Over time, this often caused soil acidification and left behind excessive nitrates that polluted the soil and groundwater, producing adverse effects such as declining soil fertility and deterioration of the ecological environment. Therefore, Taiwan, China urgently needs to establish an agricultural production system that reduces the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and energy, in order to prevent further deterioration of the ecological environment.
Green manure is a type of crop whose fresh plant material is plowed into the soil as fertilizer, or used to improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Therefore, planting green manure crops can increase the organic matter content in the soil and improve the soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. Leguminous green manure crops in particular have symbiotic rhizobia that can fix nitrogen from the air, increasing the source of nitrogen in the soil, preventing the overgrowth of weeds and serving a function in soil and water conservation, while also greening and beautifying rural landscapes. In addition, green manures such as rapeseed also have multiple functions, such as providing abundant winter nectar sources and relieving the pressure of excess winter vegetable production. Moreover, in recent years, as people's living standards have risen significantly, more and more attention is being paid to the quality of agricultural products. Cultivating green manure crops can not only conserve farmland for sustainable production, but also increase crop yields and produce healthy food, so it is truly worth promoting widely.
2. Suitable Green Manure Crops
The importance of green manure crops suitable for cultivation in Taiwan, China can be broadly summarized in the following points:
(1) Increase soil nutrients and promote nutrients becoming soluble.
(2) Increase the organic matter content in the soil.
(3) Provide soil cover and serve a soil and water conservation function on hillside land.
(4) Prevent the overgrowth of weeds on idle or fallow farmland, which makes replanting difficult.
(5) Serve as feed for poultry and livestock and as vegetables for human consumption.
(6) Winter green manure provides nectar sources and landscape beautification.
(7) Relieve the pressure of peak winter vegetable production.
Which green manure crops are there:
