Cover Crop Residue Decomposition and the Release of Nitrogen to Asian Vegetable.

In pursuit of sustainable agriculture, the use of cover crops as an alternative source of nitrogen to Asian vegetable crops was evaluated on Piedmont soil. The experimental design was a split plot with four replications. The main treatments were (1) Cover Crop (C) and (2) No-Cover Crop (NC). Four nitrogen (N) rates, 0, 50, 75 and 150 lbs/acre, were evaluated on C and NC treatments. The Asian vegetables grown were Ridge Gourd (Luffa acutangula), variety Rawa, and Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia), variety Comet. To determine the quality of N supplied by the cover crop to the vegetable crop and its sufficiency, a residue decomposition study was conducted. Mesh bags containing 50 grams of Crimson Clover and Rye grass biomass were buried in the cover crop plots. The mesh bags were collected periodically, processed and the decomposition measured. The decomposition ranged from 55% to 80% over a two month period during the growing season. The residue collected from the bags was analyzed to determine the N released. The growth and yield Ridge Gourd and Bitter Gourd was adequate under the cover crop mixture.