Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.tplants.2025.01.009
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Going beyond improving soil health: cover plants as contaminant removers in agriculture
Author Sharma, P.; Reitz, T. ORCID logo ; Singh, S.P.; Worrich, A.; Muehe, E.M.
Source Titel Trends in Plant Science
Year 2025
Department BOOEK; AME
Volume 30
Issue 5
Page From 539
Page To 552
Language englisch
Topic T7 Bioeconomy
Keywords Environmental remediation; green manuring; cover crops; intercrops
Abstract 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.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=30397
Sharma, P., Reitz, T., Singh, S.P., Worrich, A., Muehe, E.M. (2025):
Going beyond improving soil health: cover plants as contaminant removers in agriculture
Trends Plant Sci. 30 (5), 539 - 552 10.1016/j.tplants.2025.01.009