Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Dhillon, Jagmandeep

Committee Member

Gholson, Drew

Committee Member

Singh, Gubir

Committee Member

Kaur, Gurpreet

Committee Member

Irby, Jon; Bararpour, Taghi

Date of Degree

8-7-2025

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only

Major

PSS-Plant and Soil Science (Agronmy)

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

Abstract

In the Mississippi Delta, continuous dryland soybean (Glycine max L.) production practice is a selection for those that do not or cannot irrigate their crops. However, no crop rotation results in yield losses due to diseases, increased insect population, weed species pressure, nutrient leaching, and soil erosion. Incorporation of cover crops might offer potential benefits but needs further investigation. The objectives were to determine the optimum cover crop planting time (R6 and harvest) and ideal cover crop species, and evaluate their impact on dryland soybean grain yield, quality, and plant population. R6 overseeded cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) produced the maximum amount of biomass in all years except 2022, where crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) outperformed the rest of the treatments. Cover crop overseeding time had no effect on soybean yield. Most of the cover crop species resulted in similar soybean yield as the control plot of no cover crop.

Sponsorship (Optional)

Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board, United States Department of Agriculture -Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research

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