Green manures are crops not grown to be harvested, but mainly to be incorporated back into the soil to improve the soil’s fertility rate and reduce the incidence and pressure of certain pathogens that can affect that crop or soil.
This agronomic tool provides rapidly degrading organic matter, feeding soil microorganisms, energy and nutrients. These microorganisms are the ones that carry out the necessary transformations so that the nutritive elements of the soil become assimilable by plants and, depending on their species, they also provide direct or indirect functions of biocidal action.
Depending on the objective sought in each case, we can choose species from different families, the most common being grasses, legumes, or cruciferous.
☝🏽We highlight some of the most important benefits of the use of green manures in agriculture:
✅ They largely prevent the loss by leaching of nitrogen and other elements, in the case of legumes, they enrich the nitrogen soil.
✅ They limit the development of adventitious herbs, either directly due to the effect of the plant cover itself or indirectly because certain green fertilizers can inhibit certain negative adventitious plants for the normal development of the crop.
✅ Protect or improve soil structure. By reducing soil compaction, the development of root systems and the circulation of water in it is facilitated.
✅ They improve crop health by contributing to soil balance and other effects of biocidal action. In this case, once the green manure is dry and chopped, the most appropriate practice will be to incorporate it into the soil, even with subsequent solarization.
For the latter case, the objective is to reduce the population of soil pathogens ecologically, avoiding the use of chemical substances. The medium-term effect is the sanitary and nutritional balance in the soil in such a way that it allows the correct development of our crops.
Certain plant species are currently known to have good biocidal action, among them the cruciferous Brassica rapa and Brassica juncea stand out, which can also be used as biodisinfectants during their decomposition after the green manure has been chopped and buried. In these cases, if it is covered with a transparent plastic well sealed to the ground, solarization will be carried out with very positive effects against certain pathogenic fungi. Other species such as Raphanus sativus and Avena strigosa are recommended for nematode control.
These biocidal effects occur, among others, thanks to the production of glucosinolates when the plant reaches maximum development in the flowering process or when the silique is in a milky state. This is the time to chop the plant and incorporate it into the ground using a harrow or milling machine. If manure is added, biofumigation is more effective due to the increase in temperature. Once the glucosinolates are hydrolyzed, they become isothiocyanates with a very biocidal action against nematodes, bacteria, fungi, and even some insects.
👉🏼www.biocontrolplant.com/contacto/
👉🏼www.linkedin.com/company/biocontrolplant/
