Red Pepper Cultivation Using a Native Legume Cover Crop in Korea

Four seed vetch (Vicia tetrasperma), a biennial native leguminous plant, was used for a cover crop with different quantity of sowed seeds. Weed suppression and yield were evaluated for the red pepper cultivation in the following year of the vetch seeding. Seeding of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 kg 10 $a^{-1}$ suppressed weed occurrences until late in the growing season of the red pepper. Consequently, red pepper in the cover cropping system with seeding of 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 kg 10 $a^{-1}$ had a similar yield to the conventional red pepper. The ideal seed rate in four seed vetch was 3.0 and 4.5 kg 10 $a^{-1}$ in terms of reducing weed occurrence as well as increasing growth and yield in red pepper.