Cover Crops for Resilience of a Limited-Irrigation Winter Wheat–Sorghum–Fallow Rotation: Soil Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sorghum Yield Responses

Cover crops can improve soil health by maintaining organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) contents, yet their dynamics in relation to crop yield a semi-arid cropping system are poorly understood. The main objective of this study was evaluate the response diverse winter cover species mixture on SOC N fractions relationship with sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–sorghum–fallow rotation limited irrigation management. treatments included pea (Pisum sativum L.), oat (Avena sativa canola (Brassica napus mixtures pea+oat (POM), pea+canola (PCM), peat+oat+canola (POCM), six-species (SSM) pea+oat+canola+hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth)+forage radish (Raphanussativus L.)+barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) as fallow. Soil samples were analyzed for residual inorganic N, potentially mineralizable (PMC) (PMN), SOC, total N. Response labile PMC, PMN varied treatments. contents did not differ among but 20% 35% higher 2020 than 2019, respectively. Sorghum grain 25% 40% greater oats PCM while it 33–97% fallow other 2020. Oat could resilience limited-irrigation systems increasing regions.