In
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, a
nurse crop is an
annualAn annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
crop used to assist in establishment of a
perennialA perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants...
crop. The widest use of nurse crops is in the establishment of
legumaceousIn botanical writing legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A'legume' fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a pod, although "pod" is also applied to a few...
plants such as
alfalfaAlfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop. In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand it is known as lucerne and as lucerne grass in south Asia...
,
cloverClover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on...
, and
trefoilTrefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
. Occasionally nurse crops are used for establishment of perennial grasses.
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In
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, a
nurse crop is an
annualAn annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
crop used to assist in establishment of a
perennialA perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants...
crop. The widest use of nurse crops is in the establishment of
legumaceousIn botanical writing legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A'legume' fruit is a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides. A common name for this type of fruit is a pod, although "pod" is also applied to a few...
plants such as
alfalfaAlfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop. In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand it is known as lucerne and as lucerne grass in south Asia...
,
cloverClover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on...
, and
trefoilTrefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
. Occasionally nurse crops are used for establishment of perennial grasses.
Nurse crops reduce the incidence of weeds, prevent erosion, and prevent excessive sunlight from reaching tender seedlings. Often the nurse crop can be harvested for grain, straw, hay, or pasture.
OatThe common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats make up a large part of the diet of horses and are regularly fed to...
s are the most common nurse crop, though other annual grains are also used.