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Cover crop
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Dense field of bright green Crotalaria plants, grown as a cover crop to improve soil quality and retain moisture.
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Cover crop

agriculture
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Cover crop, Fast-growing crop, such as rye, buckwheat, cowpea, or vetch, planted to prevent soil erosion, increase nutrients in the soil, and provide organic matter. Cover crops are grown either in the season during which cash crops are not grown or between the rows of some crops (e.g., fruit trees). See also green manure.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Robert Curley.