ABSTRACT
Increasing crop productivity and maintaining a clean environment are major challenges to agriculturalscientistsinthetwenty-˜rstcentury.Tomeetthesechallenges,cropproductionpracticesneedtofavorhigheryieldsandminimizedenvironmentalpollution(Fageriaet al.,2005; Fageria,2009).Theuseofcovercropsincroppingsystemsisanimportantstrategytohelpachieve theseobjectives.Covercropscanbede˜nedasclose-growingcropsthatprovidesoilprotectionand help improve soil characteristics between periods of normal crop production, or between trees in orchardsandvinesinvineyards(SoilScienceSocietyofAmerica,1997).Whenplowedunderand incorporatedintothesoil,covercropsmaybereferredtoasgreenmanurecrops.Covercropsmay begrowninrotationwithnormalcashcrops,ortheymaybegrownsimultaneouslyinassociation withcashcrop.Inplantationfarming,quick-growingperennialcovercropsareplantedbeforeor during early stages of plantation crop establishment.
