Cover crops in a sustainable cultivation system and their influence on the content of organic matter in the soil

Cover crops are very important, especially from the aspect of sustainability of agricultural production. This biological measure maintains or increases the level of organic matter in the soil, improves the physical properties of the soil, accumulates nitrogen in legumes, improves microbiological activity in the soil, suppresses weeds and increases soil fertility. In the research, 4 plant species were included as cover crops: common vetch, winter forage peas, winter oats and winter forage kale. The experiment was carried out on the experimental field of the Maize Institute "Zemun Polje" during two growing seasons on low-carbon chernozem. Autumn soil preparation (deep plowing and fine pre-sowing preparation) was carried out immediately before the sowing of cover crops in early November. Original seeds from the Institute for forage crops of the Institute for Agriculture and Vegetables from Novi Sad were used for sowing. In the spring before mowing, the biomass of cover crops was measured, then mowing and plowing, after which half of the plot was treated with microbiological fertilizer, which helped in the mineralization of plant residues, which would further influence the increase of soil fertility. The aim of the work is to examine different types of cover crops, which by plowing the biomass produced contribute to the increase of organic matter in the soil, prevent leaching of nutrients and have an impact on the general fertility of the soil. The highest above-ground biomass was measured in fodder kale (54040 t ha-1) in the second year of the study, which had more favorable meteorological conditions. After winter oats, the content of organic matter increased the most and averaged 4.467% and 4.090%, which was statistically significantly higher compared to other cover crops.