Unveiling the Opportunities of Unexplored Use of Cover Crop in Mediterranean Agriculture through Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Literature Review
2.2. Literature Selection
- Peer-reviewed papers with experimental studies (only relevant field studies that reported at least one intervention and outcome components described in Table 1 were selected);
- Peer-reviewed papers conducted in field conditions;
- Peer-reviewed papers not involving cover crops in the intercropping with other crops;
- Peer-reviewed papers conducted under Mediterranean climate conditions.
- Reason 1: Peer-reviewed papers comparing cover crops and no cover crops, or comparing cover crop species; performances;
- Reason 2: Peer-reviewed papers whose sites do not belong to the Mediterranean climate conditions (and are not specified in the abstract, otherwise they would be excluded in the first step);
- Reason 3: Peer-reviewed papers comparing agricultural management where cover crops are included as part of, or as a treatment of, the studied factors (management system);
- Reason 4: Peer-reviewed papers with no field experiment, no statement of the experimental design, multi-region experiment, or where results are represented as a model.
2.3. Data Extraction and Qualitative Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Literature Selection
3.2. Overview of the 35 Peer-Reviewed Papers
Reference | Study Site | |
---|---|---|
1 | Njeru et al. (2017) [50] | Pise, Italy |
2 | Campiglia et al. (2015) [51] | Tuscia, Italy |
3 | Mancinelli et al. (2015) [52] | Viterbo, Italy |
4 | Abou Chehade et al. (2023) [53] | Pise, Italy |
5 | Antichi et al. (2022) [54] | Pise, Italy |
6 | Njeru et al. (2014) [55] | Pise, Italy |
7 | Farina et al. (2018) [56] | Monsampolo, Italy |
8 | Manici et al. (2018) [57] | Monsampolo, Italy |
9 | Ciaccia et al. (2020) [58] | Monsampolo, Italy |
10 | Ciaccia et al. (2016) [59] | Monsampolo, Italy |
11 | Campanelli et al. (2019) [60] | Monsampolo, Italy |
12 | Sartori et al. (2022) [61] | Legnaro, Italy |
13 | Mauromicale et al. (2010) [62] | Sicily, Italy |
14 | Testani et al. (2023) [63] | Metaponto, Italy |
15 | Diacono et al. (2018) [64] | Metaponto, Italy |
16 | Diacono et al. (2016) [65] | Metaponto, Italy |
17 | Campiglia et al. (2009) [66] | Viterbo, Italy |
18 | Radicetti et al. (2016a) [67] | Viterbo, Italy |
19 | Campiglia et al. (2012) [68] | Viterbo, Italy |
20 | Campiglia et al. (2010) [69] | Viterbo, Italy |
21 | Radicetti et al. (2016b) [70] | Viterbo, Italy |
22 | Radicetti et al. (2013) [71] | Viterbo, Italy |
23 | Alonso-Ayuso et al. (2018) [72] | Aranjuez, Spain |
24 | Alonso-Ayuso et al. (2020) [73] | Aranjuez, Spain |
25 | Cabrera-Pérez et al. (2024) [74] | Raimat, Spain |
26 | Baldivieso-Freitas et al. (2018) [75] | Gallecs, Spain |
27 | Ordóñez-Fernández et al. (2018) [76] | Cordoba, Spain |
28 | Ngouajio et al. (2003) [77] | California, USA |
29 | Araya et al. (2022) [78] | California, USA |
30 | Burak et al. (2024) [79] | Dipni, Turkey |
31 | Coruh et al. (2016) [80] | Erzurum, Turkey |
32 | Perdigao et al. (2021) [81] | Viseu, Portugal |
33 | Garcia et al. (2024) [82] | Montpellier, France |
34 | Saadani et al. (2019) [83] | Monastir, Tunisia |
35 | Le Roux and Swanepoel (2023) [84] | Cape-town, South Africa |
3.3. Distinctive Features of the 35 Peer-Reviewed Papers
3.4. Cover Crop Types and Genera in the 35 Peer-Reviewed Papers
3.5. Cover Crop Combinations with Other Agricultural Practices
- ✓ 14 experiments combine CC with different termination methods.
- ✓ 8 experiments combine CC with some weed management techniques.
- ✓ 8 experiments combine CC with fertilization plans.
- ✓ 4 experiments combine CC with soil management/tillage procedures.
- ✓ 4 experiments combine CC with the effects on different cash crop types.
- ✓ 3 experiments combine CC with their sowing schedules.
- ✓ 3 experiments combine CC with their termination-time planning.
- ✓ 3 experiments combine CC with beneficial micro-organisms.
- ✓ 1 experiment combines CC with orchard-shading density.
- ✓ 1 experiment combines CC with cash crop irrigation system.
3.6. Studied Parameters in the 35 Peer-Reviewed Papers
3.7. Forest Plot of Two among All the Studied Parameters in the 35 Peer-Reviewed Papers
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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PICO Components | Description | Script |
---|---|---|
Population (P) | Agricultural cropping systems under a Mediterranean climate using cover crops | (agriculture OR “organic farm*” OR “organic agriculture*” OR “organic horticulture” OR agroecology OR “conservation agriculture” OR “conservation farm*” OR “conservation horticulture” OR “regenerative agriculture” OR “regenerative farm*” OR “regenerative horticulture”) |
Intervention (I) | Factors and agricultural practices that can be used in combination with cover crops (e.g., cover crop species, sowing time, termination time and methods, irrigation, crop rotation, tillage practices) | (specie* OR mixture* OR Irrigation OR “water management” OR “crop* rotation” OR “termination method*” OR “termination technique*” OR “termination time” OR “planting time”) |
Comparison (C) | Cover crop species used alone | (“cover crop*” OR “catch crop*” OR “companion crop*” OR “green manure”) |
Outcome (O) | Cover crop performance, soil quality, weed control, and cash crop yield parameters | (weed* OR “cash crop*” OR “subsequent crop*” OR “crop* yield” OR (Soil AND (fertility OR health OR quality OR “biological propert*” OR “chemical propert*” OR “nutrient* cycling” OR “physical propert*” OR structur* OR “organic carbon” OR “organic matter”))). |
Number of Peer-Reviewed Paper | Cropping System | Cover Crop Season | Cash Crop | Experiment Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Organic | Winter | Tomato | 3 |
2 | Conventional * | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
3 | Conventional | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
4 | Organic | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
5 | Conventional | Winter | Sunflower | 3 |
6 | Organic | Winter | Maize | 3 |
7 | Organic | Winter | Melon | 2 |
8 | Organic | Winter | Tomato/Zucchini | 2 |
9 | Organic | Winter | Melon | 2 |
10 | Organic | Winter | Zucchini | 2 |
11 | Organic | Winter | Melon | 2 |
12 | Conventional | Winter | Maize | 2 |
13 | Conventional | Winter | Lemon/Grapes | 2 |
14 | Organic | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
15 | Organic | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
16 | Organic | Winter | Cauliflower/Tomato | 1 |
17 | Organic | Winter | Potato | 2 |
18 | Conventional | Winter | Eggplant | 2 |
19 | Conventional | Winter | Pepper | 2 |
20 | Conventional | Winter | Tomato | 2 |
21 | Conventional | Winter | Eggplant | 2 |
22 | Conventional | Winter | Pepper | 2 |
23 | Conventional | Winter | Maize/Sunflower | 2 |
24 | Conventional | Winter | Maize | 3 |
25 | Organic | Winter | Grapes | 2 |
26 | Organic | Winter | 4 years rotation | 4 |
27 | Organic | Winter | Olives | 4 |
28 | Conventional | Summer | Lettuce | 2 |
29 | Conventional | Winter | Sorghum | 8 |
30 | Conventional | Winter | - | 1 |
31 | Conventional | Summer | - | 2 |
32 | Organic | Winter | Maize | 3 |
33 | Conventional | Winter | Grapes | 2 |
34 | Conventional | Winter | Lettuce | 2 |
35 | Conventional | Summer | Wheat | 1 |
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Ziche, Z.I.; Mezzapesa, G.N.; Dragonetti, G.; Piscitelli, L. Unveiling the Opportunities of Unexplored Use of Cover Crop in Mediterranean Agriculture through Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sustainability 2024, 16, 7362. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177362
Ziche ZI, Mezzapesa GN, Dragonetti G, Piscitelli L. Unveiling the Opportunities of Unexplored Use of Cover Crop in Mediterranean Agriculture through Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sustainability. 2024; 16(17):7362. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177362
Chicago/Turabian StyleZiche, Zakaria Islem, Giuseppe Natale Mezzapesa, Giovanna Dragonetti, and Lea Piscitelli. 2024. "Unveiling the Opportunities of Unexplored Use of Cover Crop in Mediterranean Agriculture through Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7362. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177362