chemical properties in soil. High C:N ratio crop residues such as straw or corn stalks decompose slowly on incorporation and are more often converted to humus. Raising humus levels in soils is valuable as a long-term source of nutrients and also because it
of marketable yield were recorded. After lettuce harvest, crop residue was incorporated into the soil and the beds reshaped, except for the cowpea mulch plots that were maintained as no-till for the lettuce and muskmelon seasons. ‘Magellan
system by providing a mulch layer to retain soil moisture, reduce erosion, suppress weeds, and keep fruits dry. Cover crop residue can reduce water evaporation and water runoff, which reduces irrigation needs and soil erosion ( Lal, 2004 ). Cover crop
suppression is increased by high cover crop residue mulches that are often used along with PRE herbicides in NT systems, full-season control of broadleaf weeds is particularly difficult to achieve in NT pumpkin systems because of limited herbicide options, and
crops in the alley area may allow a large area for biomass production and symbiotic N fixation by legumes. The amount and rate of N mineralized from cover crop residues has been shown to be dependent on the C:N ratio of the residue, as well as
alternative for growers in colder regions ( Black et al., 2002a , 2002b ). AMR uses raised beds and drip irrigation similar to the plasticulture system, but plants are managed like in CMR production and a cover crop residue persists on the raised beds as a
cover crop residues can intercept preemergence herbicide, reducing its efficacy. Hand et al. (p. 117) report that applying preemergence herbicides prior to crimping and rolling a cereal rye cover crop can lead to improved weed control. Although there
fields in bare, fallow beds, because dealing with cover crop residues delays early planting schedules. To overcome this limitation, Heinrich et al. (p. 502) looked at the ability of a winter-killed cereal rye to reduce nitrate leaching. They found that
maintains 30% surface cover with cash or cover crop residue ( Soil Science Society of America, 2005 ), could potentially balance some of the negative production-based impacts on soils. In practice, conservation tillage can be achieved by minimizing tillage
( Agehara and Warncke, 2005 ; Hartz and Johnstone, 2006 ) and second weeks ( Koller et al., 2004 ). Khalil et al. (2005) observed a rapid increase in ammonia production in the first 2 weeks for crop residues and chicken manure. The potential of BM as an