IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v256y2021ics0378377421003504.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A meta-analysis on cover crop impact on soil water storage, succeeding crop yield, and water-use efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Jun
  • Zhang, Shaohong
  • Sainju, Upendra M.
  • Ghimire, Rajan
  • Zhao, Fazhu

Abstract

Cover cropping is practiced to enhance soil health and sustain succeeding crop yield; however, the effect of cover crop on soil water storage, succeeding crop yield, and water-use efficiency (WUE) may not be consistent in all regions. A meta-analysis was carried out to evaluate the effect of cover crop on precipitation storage efficiency (PSE, the percent of precipitation that is stored in the soil during the fallow period), soil water storage at succeeding crop planting (SWSP), succeeding crop yield, and WUE from data collected from 117 studies across the world. Cover crop decreased PSE by 33.4% and soil water storage for the whole profile (SWSPT) at soil depth by 13.2%, but increased water storage to a depth of 30 cm (SWSP30) by 6.0% (P < 0.05) compared to no cover crop. Cover crop did not affect succeeding crop yield, but decreased evapotranspiration (ET) by 6.2% and increased WUE by 5.0% (P < 0.05) compared to no cover crop. The effect of cover crop on these parameters varied by soil and climatic conditions of various regions. Leaving cover crop residue at the soil surface or incorporating into the soil reduced PSE, SWSPT, and ET, but increased SWSP30 and WUE compared to residue removal. Maintaining cover crop biomass at 5Mgha−1 and leaving a 20-d interval between cover crop termination and succeeding crop planting, also enhanced PSE and SWSP30. Although cover crop had minimal impact on succeeding crop yield, WUE of succeeding crops can be increased with cover cropping by decreasing evapotranspiration.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Jun & Zhang, Shaohong & Sainju, Upendra M. & Ghimire, Rajan & Zhao, Fazhu, 2021. "A meta-analysis on cover crop impact on soil water storage, succeeding crop yield, and water-use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:256:y:2021:i:c:s0378377421003504
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377421003504
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107085?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Basche, Andrea D. & Kaspar, Thomas C. & Archontoulis, Sotirios V. & Jaynes, Dan B. & Sauer, Thomas J. & Parkin, Timothy B. & Miguez, Fernando E., 2016. "Soil water improvements with the long-term use of a winter rye cover crop," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 40-50.
    2. Andrea D Basche & Marcia S DeLonge, 2019. "Comparing infiltration rates in soils managed with conventional and alternative farming methods: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schomberg, Harry H. & White, Kathryn E. & Thompson, Alondra I. & Bagley, Gwendolyn A. & Burke, Allen & Garst, Grace & Bybee-Finley, K. Ann & Mirsky, Steven B., 2023. "Interseeded cover crop mixtures influence soil water storage during the corn phase of corn-soybean-wheat no-till cropping systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    2. Valentina Quintarelli & Emanuele Radicetti & Enrica Allevato & Silvia Rita Stazi & Ghulam Haider & Zainul Abideen & Safia Bibi & Aftab Jamal & Roberto Mancinelli, 2022. "Cover Crops for Sustainable Cropping Systems: A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Xian Liu & Yueyue Xu & Shikun Sun & Xining Zhao & Yubao Wang, 2022. "Analysis of the Coupling Characteristics of Water Resources and Food Security: The Case of Northwest China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sandhya Karki & M. Arlene A. Adviento-Borbe & Joseph H. Massey & Michele L. Reba, 2021. "Assessing Seasonal Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Furrow-Irrigated Rice with Cover Crops," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Meredith Hovis & Joseph Chris Hollinger & Frederick Cubbage & Theodore Shear & Barbara Doll & J. Jack Kurki-Fox & Daniel Line & Andrew Fox & Madalyn Baldwin & Travis Klondike & Michelle Lovejoy & Brya, 2021. "Natural Infrastructure Practices as Potential Flood Storage and Reduction for Farms and Rural Communities in the North Carolina Coastal Plain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Rath, S. & Zamora-Re, M. & Graham, W. & Dukes, M. & Kaplan, D., 2021. "Quantifying nitrate leaching to groundwater from a corn-peanut rotation under a variety of irrigation and nutrient management practices in the Suwannee River Basin, Florida," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    4. Nikolaos V. Paranychianakis & Giorgos Giannakis & Daniel Moraetis & Vasileios A. Tzanakakis & Nikolaos P. Nikolaidis, 2021. "Crop Litter Has a Strong Effect on Soil Organic Matter Sequestration in Semi-Arid Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    5. Rogovska, Natalia & O’Brien, Peter L. & Malone, Rob & Emmett, Bryan & Kovar, John L. & Jaynes, Dan & Kaspar, Thomas & Moorman, Thomas B. & Kyveryga, Peter, 2023. "Long-term conservation practices reduce nitrate leaching while maintaining yields in tile-drained Midwestern soils," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    6. Dhakal, Rajan & Connor, Lawson, 2022. "Cover Crops and Interactions with Corn and Soybean Yields: Evidence from Satellite data in Indiana," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322587, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Li, Yizhuo & Tian, Di & Feng, Gary & Yang, Wei & Feng, Liping, 2021. "Climate change and cover crop effects on water use efficiency of a corn-soybean rotation system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    8. Manuel López-Vicente & Elena Calvo-Seas & Sara Álvarez & Artemi Cerdà, 2020. "Effectiveness of Cover Crops to Reduce Loss of Soil Organic Matter in a Rainfed Vineyard," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-16, July.
    9. Kim, Youngho, 2023. "Payments for Ecosystem Services Programs and Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335971, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Flowers, Henry & Lopez, Jose A. & Drake, David & Jones, Curtis, 2023. "An Agronomic and Economic Analysis of Annual Ryegrass Management Practices in North-Texas Soybean Production," 2023 Annual Meeting, February 4-8, 2023, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 338474, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    11. Mohamed Allam & Emanuele Radicetti & Mortadha Ben Hassine & Aftab Jamal & Zainul Abideen & Roberto Mancinelli, 2023. "A Meta-Analysis Approach to Estimate the Effect of Cover Crops on the Grain Yield of Succeeding Cereal Crops within European Cropping Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, August.
    12. Schomberg, Harry H. & White, Kathryn E. & Thompson, Alondra I. & Bagley, Gwendolyn A. & Burke, Allen & Garst, Grace & Bybee-Finley, K. Ann & Mirsky, Steven B., 2023. "Interseeded cover crop mixtures influence soil water storage during the corn phase of corn-soybean-wheat no-till cropping systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    13. Robert Malone & Jurgen Garbrecht & Phillip Busteed & Jerry Hatfield & Dennis Todey & Jade Gerlitz & Quanxiao Fang & Matthew Sima & Anna Radke & Liwang Ma & Zhiming Qi & Huaiqing Wu & Dan Jaynes & Thom, 2020. "Drainage N Loads Under Climate Change with Winter Rye Cover Crop in a Northern Mississippi River Basin Corn-Soybean Rotation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Yang, Wei & Feng, Gary & Adeli, Ardeshir & Kersebaum, K.C. & Jenkins, Johnie N. & Li, Pinfang, 2019. "Long-term effect of cover crop on rainwater balance components and use efficiency in the no-tilled and rainfed corn and soybean rotation system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 27-39.
    15. Teerath Rai & Nicole Lee & Martin Williams & Adam Davis & María B. Villamil & Hamze Dokoohaki, 2023. "Probabilistic Assessment of Cereal Rye Cover Crop Impacts on Regional Crop Yield and Soil Carbon," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    16. Naharuddin Naharuddin & Abdul Wahid & Golar Golar & Imran Rachman & Akhbar Akhbar & Sudirman Daeng Massiri, 2022. "Soil Infiltration In Various Areas As A Basis For Hydrlogical Alterations In The Toboli Watershed, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia," Water Conservation & Management (WCM), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 6(2), pages 76-80, May.
    17. Sawadgo, Wendiam & Plastina, Alejandro, 2021. "Do cost-share programs increase cover crop use? Empirical evidence from Iowa," ISU General Staff Papers 202101010800001084, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    18. Gabriel, Jose Luis & Quemada, Miguel & Martín-Lammerding, Diana & Vanclooster, Marnik, 2019. "Assessing the cover crop effect on soil hydraulic properties by inverse modelling in a 10-year field trial," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 62-71.
    19. Marcillo, Guillermo S. & Carlson, Sarah & Filbert, Meghan & Kaspar, Thomas & Plastina, Alejandro & Miguez, Fernando E., 2019. "Maize system impacts of cover crop management decisions: A simulation analysis of rye biomass response to planting populations in Iowa, U.S.A," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. René Rietra & Marius Heinen & Oene Oenema, 2022. "A Review of Crop Husbandry and Soil Management Practices Using Meta-Analysis Studies: Towards Soil-Improving Cropping Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-31, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:256:y:2021:i:c:s0378377421003504. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.