There are several ways that allelopathy is important for agricultural systems.

Weeds are some of the most expensive components of agriculture. Alleleopathic plants are important for controlling weeds. The aggressive growth of Mucuna velvetbean species are able to suppress weeds effectively. In central america hill country the plant is called fertilizer bean the maize crop is grown for 40 days and the last weeding has planting of the vetvetbean with will cover the ground by harvest. The velvetbean conserves the soil and provides rich amounts of nitrogen and weed control.

Velvetbean is the richest source of l dopa which in the plant is a defensive mechanism converting from l dope to dopachrome red and than polyermizing into melanic black.

When velvetbean is grown the amounts of plant organic material are well converteded into improved amounts of soil organic matter.

For farmers with scarce inputs the allelopathic plant from saved seeds provides a low cost endemic input with address soil infertility lack of inputs and the ability to address the causes of soil losses.

Since the information from green revolution was all about increasing crop inputs the use of natural inputs which are self sufficient were not taken into consideration.

I will address other examples in the discussion.

As continuation the compaction of soils is a real and important and often undiagnosed and addressed issue.

Some covers can be grown to both address compaction issues and also pest such as soil insects nematodes weeds and pathogens.

OIl seed radish or daikon radish is excellent for its ability to be highly productive but also break down cemented plow layers or layers of soil compaction.

In addition the isocynanates generated from their composition can serve in biofumigation of the soil.

Daikon radish can be used as winter rotation crop soils can also be solarized in tandem and these disinfested irrigated field can be used for growing strawberries in a mulch culture with transplant in the fall and early summer harvest.

Biofumigation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biofumigation is a method of pest control in agriculture, a variant of fumigation where the gaseous active substance—fumigant—is produced by decomposition of plant material freshly chopped and buried in the soil for this purpose.[1][2][3]

Plants from the Brassicaceae family (e.g., mustards, cauliflower, and broccoli) are primarily used due to their high glucosinolate content; in the process of decomposition, glucosinolates are broken down to volatile isothiocyanates which are toxic to soil organisms such as bacteria, fungi and nematodes, but less toxic and persistent in the environment than synthetic fumigants.[2] Alternatively, grasses such as sorghum can be used, in which case hydrogen cyanide is produced to similar effect.[3]

The method consists of mowing and chopping the plants during flowering to ensure maximum glucosinolate content and speed up decomposition. The ground needs to be irrigated to field capacity, after which the chopped material is incorporated into the top layer and covered with impermeable film to prevent the gas from escaping. After three or four weeks, the film is removed and the ground is ready for planting 24 hours later.[1] Burying biofumigant crops after the growing season to plant cash crops normally next year may in theory lead to buildup of active substance in the soil after a few cycles of crop rotation, but direct short-term suppression of pests is not notable in this case.[4][5]

The method can be used as a more sustainable and environment-friendly alternative to classic fumigation and other chemical pest control methods. Additionally, it can serve to replenish the nutrient content of the soil and promote growth of beneficial organisms.[3] On the other hand, it requires changes in cultivation practice due to the time needed for the method to take effect, can be costly if biofumigant-producing plants need to be brought from elsewhere (i. e. if they are not used in crop rotation to be chopped and buried on site), and is difficult to standardize due to varying active substance content in different cultivars.[2][3]

References[edit]

In India the elevations might be excellent for this type of culture under irrigation and having a very high value crop with ability to greatly lower the fumigation cost which would be very dangersous for workers and the crop could be grown as toxic agrichemical avoidant.

Tillage radishes

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Daikon is a winter radish, meaning it grows best when it is allowed to mature in colder weather. Therefore, it is typically planted in mid-summer to early fall, depending on your growing zone. These radishes are often used as cover crops to loosen soil and reduce erosion. This has given them the name tillage radishes.

Maintenance: Low

Native to: Mediterranean, East Asia

Plant Type: Annual

Water Needs: 1/2 inch per week

How to Plant and Grow Daikon: Add Some …

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gardenerspath.com/plants/vegetables/grow-daikon/

Dr Paul Reed Hepperly thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Crop diversification helps in minimizing the alleviating second generations’ problem such as soil degradation, soil salinity, insect-pest and disease insurgence, environmental pollution, decline in farm profit, nutrient imbalance, climate change etc. Crop diversification increases agricultural biodiversity improves crop yields and produces quality to address both food and nutritional security. Crop diversification provides better conditions for food security and enables farmers to grow surplus products for sale at market and thus help to obtain increased income to meet other needs related to household well-being. Diversification is essential because there is greater risk in depending exclusively on farming for livelihood and to provide productive sustain able livelihood options to rural people. Crop diversification helps in minimizing the alleviating second generations’ problem such as soil degradation, soil salinity, insect-pest and disease insurgence, environmental pollution, decline in farm profit, nutrient imbalance, climate change etc. Crop diversification provides better conditions for food security and enables farmers to grow surplus products for sale at the market. Thus it helps increase farmers' income to meet their household needs. In India, diversification has occurred both across and within the crop, livestock, forestry and fishery sectors. Within the agriculture, the share of output and employment in the non-crop sectors, i.e. animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries, has been gradually increasing. Allelopathic plants can be used to obtain natural herbicides/pesticides. Being a weed itself, it does not allow the growth of other weeds. Proper use of allelopathy can result in the reduced use of pesticides/herbicides. It can be used for intercropping and crop rotation. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon in which plants release chemical poisons to destroy neighbouring plants in their bid for more space and sunlight. The poisons released are deadly, they change the very genetic structure of the victim plants preventing its growth and ultimately leading to its death. In field crops, However, allelopathy is the influence of one plant on the growth of another one, including microorganisms, by the release of chemical compounds into the environment. These chemicals are usually secondary plant metabolites or by products of the principal metabolic pathways in plants.