Broccoli Production in Forage Soybean and Foxtail Millet Cover Crop Mulches

Abstract

`Emperor' broccoli (Brassica oleraceae L. Botrytis Group) was grown in Fall 1995 at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), Md., and at the Kentland Agricultural Research Farm (KARF), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg. The objectives were to determine the effects of cover crop mulches in no-tillage production systems on marketable broccoli yield and weed suppression. The mulch treatments included cover crops of forage soybean (Glycine max L.), foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.P. Beauv), and a combination of soybean and millet. Broccoli marketable yield from all three mulch treatments was equal to that from a conventional clean cultivation system, except for the millet treatment at BARC, which produced a lower yield. All treatments maintained weeds below levels that reduced yield. Cover crop biomass ranged from 4.6 to 9.6 t·ha-1 and N content from 10 g·kg-1 for millet to 28 g·kg-1 for soybean.