Researchers have good news for growers. Farmers raising a nitrogen-hungry crop like sweet corn may save up to half of their nitrogen fertilizer cost. The key: using a faba bean cover crop.
Researchers have good news for growers. Farmers raising a nitrogen-hungry crop like sweet corn may save up to half of their nitrogen fertilizer cost. The key: using a faba bean cover crop.
Faba bean is an ancient crop increasingly used as a cover crop. Cover crops are grown in the months between main crops when the soil would otherwise be bare. Cover crops can control erosion, build soil, and suppress weeds. Grasses, legumes, and other non-grassy plants are the most commonly used cover crops.
Faba is a legume, as are peas, beans, and lentils. They are a good source of protein. They also bring an important benefit to agriculture: they are nitrogen fixers. These plants, working with bacteria in the soil, take nitrogen from the atmosphere. The decomposing plants then add nitrogen to the soil. Faba is known to be one of the most powerful nitrogen fixers.
Nitrogen is a vital nutrient for plants’ growth. Farmers who grow sweet corn typically add nitrogen in the form of commercial fertilizer for best yield.
Read more at American Society of Agronomy
Image: Faba beans pods come in a range of sizes and bear varying numbers of seeds. The plants help increase vital nitrogen in the soil. (Credit: Masoud Hashemi)
