ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews and summarizes the existing studies that are focused on understanding different aspects of soil, crop, water, and environment and their interaction for improving yield and water use efficiency (WUE) in the US Great Plains and beyond. As the mulch decomposes into the soil, it adds organic matter to the soil and increases the water-holding capacity, which allows the soil to remain moist in times of limited moisture availability. Overall, covered soils can hold a higher amount of water even at the time of low rainfall and increasing environmental temperature compared to uncovered soils, which eventually helps to increase the WUE. The increased residue input from cover crops and the depletion of soil water compared to fallow could increase precipitation storage efficiency or fallow efficiency between cover crop termination and next crop planting. Limited precipitation and soil moisture following the harvest of primary crops make cover crops a significant challenge for dryland producers.
