Sunn Hemp—A Promising Cover Crop in Florida
Qingren Wang, Yuncong Li, Waldemar Klassen, and Edward A. Hanlon Jr.
As one of the promising cover crops under tropical, subtropical, or even template climate, sunn hemp (Crotalaria Juncea L.) has shown great advantages in improving soil fertility and increasing the yield and quality for subsequent cash crops. Due to the leguminous feature, sunn hemp can grow well in the soil with poor fertility, grow fast, accumulate a significant amount of nitrogen from soil, suppress weeds and soil root-knot nematodes, and tolerate dry and wet environmental conditions. Therefore, this article aims to elucidate unique features, origin, plant growth, handling, potential benefits, and the limitation in seed production of sunn hemp. It provides basic information to growers, stakeholders, and anyone interested in growing cover crops for crop rotation to optimize the cropping systems for sustainable agriculture.
