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Description  

Cover crops are grown to provide vegetative cover between rows of main crops in orchards and vineyards, or in the period between two main arable crops to prevent erosion and  minimize the risk of surface runoff run-off by improving the infiltration. They may also function as catch crops, which scavenge the remaining nitrogen after the main crop is harvested, thereby reducing nutrient losses from leaching. They are temporary crops that may be cut and removed or incorporated into the soil. The practice of incorporating crops into the soil to provide nutrient is defined as "green manuring".[2] Spontaneous vegetation left growing with the same purpose of cover crops is also included under this practice.  

Key descriptors 

Cover/catch crops include: 

• Crops sown on purpose during the fallow season, or undersown to winter/spring main crops, or sown between rows of tree or vineyard crops as mean of soil living cover. 
• Spontaneous vegetation left growing with the objective of covering the soil. 
• Mono- or multi-species cover/catch crops including legumes (N-fixing species), non-legumes (grass or broadleafs) or mixtures. 
• Permanent/annual intercropping in orchards, i.e. refers to the maintenance of a permanent cover crop in the alleys, such as aromatics, while annual intercropping means the presence of cover crops in the alleys that are annually harvested or incorporated into the soil. 

Cover/catch crops are terminated before the main cash crop is harvested, by different strategies: 

• Mechanical, tillage with direct incorporation to soil or herbicide termination  

Cover/catch crops biomass, after termination, can be either: 

• left on soil as mulch or green manure. 
• incorporated as green manure. 
• harvested and exported from the field. 

Catch/cover crops or spontaneous living soil cover are compared to bare soil during fallow season (e.g. winter) or to uncovered soil/active removal of spontaneous vegetation by tillage.