Several studies indicate that cover crops can be used to enhance agricultural sustainability as they provide numerous ecological services in agro-ecosystems. They protect soil against erosion and nutrient losses and compete weeds. Moreover, legume species fix nitrogen (N) from the atmosphere and contribute to next crop nutrition. Hence, cover crops complement the ecological aims of organic agriculture. We investigated the impact of cover crops in different cropping systems (organic and conventional) and soil tillage intensities (plough, reduced and no-tillage) in various field experiments. Moreover, results from an experimental network, which has investigated the behavior of more than 11 cover crops, is included. Results show that
the effects of cover crops were highest under conservation agriculture or organic farming, and decreased with increasing management intensity. The additional N input
by legume cover crops increased the N uptake by the succeeding main crops and cover crops enhanced yield in most of the investigated systems. Cover crops also
decreased weed abundance during the fallow period and, predominantly under organic reduced tillage, could reduce weed pressure in the succeeding main crop. Innovative cropping systems (e.g. organic or conservation agriculture) combined with ecological management tools, such as cover crops, have great potential to reduce environmental impact and maintain productivity
