Barrons AP Environmental Science

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

  1. (E) A green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients
    and organic matter to the soil. Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a
    specific period of time, and then plowed under and incorporated into the soil
    while green or shortly after flowering. Green manure crops are commonly
    associated with organic agriculture and are considered essential for annual
    cropping systems that wish to be sustainable. In addition to the advantages
    covered in the question, green manures also function in weed suppression
    and the prevention of soil erosion. Traditionally, the practice of using green
    manure can be traced back to the fallow cycle of crop rotation, which was
    used to allow soils to recover.

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