Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Organic Cover Crops

Organic cover crops are plants grown primarily to protect and improve the soil rather than for harvest, cultivated under organic-farming principles that avoid synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Typically planted between main crops or during fallow periods, cover crops such as legumes, grasses, and brassicas shiel…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 141× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2639-3166 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

Organic cover crops are plants grown primarily to protect and improve the soil rather than for harvest, cultivated under organic-farming principles that avoid synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Typically planted between main crops or during fallow periods, cover crops such as legumes, grasses, and brassicas shield bare soil from erosion, suppress weeds, add organic matter, and support beneficial soil organisms. Leguminous cover crops can fix atmospheric nitrogen, reducing the need for external nitrogen inputs, while the residues of cover crops returned to the soil build organic matter and enhance soil structure, fertility, and water-holding capacity. As a practice, organic cover cropping is central to sustainable and regenerative agriculture, contributing to long-term soil health, nutrient cycling, and resilience against degradation. The study of cover crops sits within broader agronomic research on soil management, fertility, and sustainable cropping systems. Agronomy Research covers this field, including studies of soil fertility, residue retention for agricultural sustainability, fertiliser response, and crop productivity, which together address the soil-health and nutrient-management questions to which cover cropping contributes. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to organic cover crops, situating the topic within the journal's coverage of soil health and sustainable agriculture.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 141 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Organic Cover Crops, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Agronomy Research (ISSN 2639-3166).

Journal editorial board
Mahmoud Mohamed Hesham Okasha · Italy Anita Maienza · Italy Rusu Teodor · Romania

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.