Mitigating dry season food insecurity in the subtropics by prospecting drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing weeds

Table 1 Traits and corresponding agroecological functions desired for an ideal cover crop

Trait	Function	References
Water use efficiency	Drought tolerance	[32]
Nitrogen fixation	Plant nutrition, soil fertility	[32]
Phosphate mineralization	Plant nutrition	[32]
Palatability	Feed quality	[32]
Spreading growth	Soil cover, prevent erosion	[32]
Long roots	Deep penetration, sequester moisture	[121]
Fibrous roots	Bind aggregates, prevent erosion	[23]
Suppressive exudates	Suppress pests and diseases	[122]
Seed storability	Shelf life	[123]
Lack of dormancy	Can be planted readily	[123]
Germination	Even canopy formation	[123]
Inbreeding	Homogenous populations from saved seed	[123]
Duration	Compatibility with crop rotation	[32]
Regrowth	Tolerance of trampling, grazing, and cutting	[32]
Naturalized	Not invasive	[32]
Allelopathy	Suppression of weeds	[48]
Yield	Productivity	[32]
Low input	Labor, water, nutrients, rainfed	[32]

ISSN: 2048-7010