Going beyond improving soil health : cover plants as contaminant removers in agriculture

Agriculture faces the increasing demands of a growing global population amid simultaneous challenges to soils from climate change and human-induced contamination. Cover plants are vital in sustainable agriculture, contributing to soil health improvement, erosion prevention, and enhanced climate resilience, but their role in contaminant management is underexplored. Herein we review the utilization of cover plants for remediating contaminants such as metals, organic pollutants, nitrate, antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance genes, plastics, and salts. We explore phytoremediation strategies – including phytoextraction, phytodegradation, and phytostabilization – in cover plant management. We highlight the challenges of selecting effective cover plants and the need for biomass removal of non-biodegradable contaminants, and we advocate incorporating phytoremediation concepts into sustainable agricultural management practices beyond nutrient cycling and climate resilience.