Cover crops for tropical plantations: the complete guide
Cover crops are plants grown to cover and protect the soil rather than for harvest. In tropical oil palm and rubber plantations, leguminous cover crops (LCCs) are sown between young trees to fix nitrogen, reduce erosion and weeds, and build soil organic matter. The main species used in Southeast Asia are Mucuna bracteata, Pueraria javanica, Calopogonium mucunoides, Centrosema pubescens, and Calopogonium caeruleum.
Why plantations grow cover crops
- Nitrogen: legume cover crops fix atmospheric nitrogen and contribute it to the system during the immature phase
- Erosion control: a living cover protects soil from rainfall impact and runoff on slopes
- Weed suppression: dense ground cover shades out weeds and reduces the weeding needed
- Soil organic matter: heavy biomass and leaf litter feed soil organic matter and biology
- Moisture: ground cover helps retain soil moisture during dry spells
What is a leguminous cover crop?
A leguminous cover crop is a legume grown for ground cover rather than grain. Through a partnership with Rhizobium bacteria in their roots, legumes fix nitrogen from the air and make part of it available to the system. In plantations they are established between rows of young palm or rubber, where they cover bare soil quickly and add organic matter as they grow and decompose.
The five main species
Each species suits different conditions. Use the overview below, then see the detailed guides and product pages.
- Mucuna bracteata (MB): vigorous and deep-rooting, and it tolerates shade through canopy maturation, which is why it is used under maturing oil palm. Nursery-raised and transplanted, never broadcast. See the Mucuna bracteata guide.
- Pueraria javanica (PJ): fast-establishing broadcast species for open and immature ground; thins as the canopy closes. See the Pueraria javanica guide.
- Calopogonium mucunoides (CM): fast early cover, good for erosion control in young stands. See the Calopogonium mucunoides guide.
- Centrosema pubescens (CP): one of the two shade-persistent successors; persists in older stands. See the Centrosema pubescens guide.
- Calopogonium caeruleum (CC): the other shade-persistent successor; hardy perennial for long-term cover as the canopy closes. See the Calopogonium caeruleum guide.
For a side-by-side view, see the five-species comparison.
Seeding rates
| Species | Sown alone (published rate) | In the MPOB TT No. 501 mixture |
|---|---|---|
| Pueraria javanica (PJ) | About 4 kg/ha broadcast (Tropical Forages) | 4 kg/ha |
| Calopogonium mucunoides (CM) | Usually sown in a mixture; rate set on the quotation for your site | Not included (PROSEA 4 gives calopo, centro and kudzu at 5:4:1, sown at 2 to 5 kg/ha in the interrow) |
| Centrosema pubescens (CP) | 3 to 5 kg/ha broadcast (Tropical Forages) | 3 kg/ha |
| Calopogonium caeruleum (CC) | 1 to 1.5 kg/ha sown with 5 to 7.5 kg/ha PJ (Tropical Forages) | 1 kg/ha |
| Mucuna bracteata (MB) | Nursery-raised and transplanted, not broadcast: about 320 seedlings/ha, two per palm point, from about 500 seeds (75 g) (MPOB TT No. 501); 680 seedlings/ha on mineral soil (Samedani et al. 2015). A broadcast kg/ha rate does not apply to MB. | |
Mixtures
The best-cited published mixture is MPOB TT No. 501 (Information Series 588, June 2012; Hasnol Othman, Farawahida Mohamad Darus & Zulkifli Hashim), Table 1 treatment C2: PJ 4 : CP 3 : CC 1, total 8 kg/ha, which MPOB calls conventional LCC, with 5 g of Rhizobium (RRI strain) inoculant per kg of seed. Read that as an institutional best-management-practice recommendation, not a primary field measurement: TT 501 is a peat trial, MPOB gives no mineral-soil rate, and it does not state whether 8 kg/ha is per gross hectare or per interrow hectare actually sown.
PROSEA 4 (1992) gives calopo, centro and kudzu at 5:4:1, or centro and kudzu at 4:1, sown at 2 to 5 kg/ha in the interrow. Three distinctions are worth stating before you order: the total rate is not the per-species component rate; a gross hectare is not the interrow hectare you actually sow; and grazed-pasture rates are not cover crop rates. There is also no Philippine institutional rate: PNS/BAFS 238:2018 (PCA) recommends legume cover cropping but gives no rate, so any Philippine figure is an extrapolation from Malaysian practice. Plan exact quantities with the cover crop calculator.
How to choose a cover crop
Match the species to the crop and growth stage. For oil palm, see best cover crop for oil palm by growth stage; for rubber, see best cover crop for rubber by canopy stage. If the priority is slope protection, see cover crops for erosion control; for inter-row weed pressure, see cover crops for weed suppression.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cover crop?
A plant grown to cover and protect the soil rather than for harvest. In plantations, leguminous cover crops fix nitrogen, reduce erosion and weeds, and build soil organic matter.
Which cover crop is best for oil palm?
It depends on estate age and conditions. PJ and CM establish fast from broadcast seed on open and immature ground; MB holds under a maturing canopy and grows vigorously through that phase; CP and CC are the shade-persistent successors for older stands. Many estates use a mixture.
How much cover crop seed per hectare?
Broadcast species are sown at a few kg/ha: PJ at about 4 kg/ha alone, CP at 3 to 5 kg/ha, and CC at 1 to 1.5 kg/ha with 5 to 7.5 kg/ha PJ (Tropical Forages). CM is usually sown in a mixture, with the rate set on the quotation for your site. The MPOB TT No. 501 mixture is PJ 4 : CP 3 : CC 1, total 8 kg/ha. MB is raised in a nursery and transplanted at about 320 seedlings/ha from about 500 seeds (75 g), not broadcast.
How much nitrogen do cover crops fix?
Less precisely than most published tables imply, and we would rather set out what is actually measured than give you one number per species. PJ: up to 250 kg N/ha/yr accumulated in aboveground biomass at 85 to 93% Ndfa, from a single rubber-intercrop trial in northeast Thailand (Clermont-Dauphin et al. 2016, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 217:79-88). That is a measured upper reference point from one site, not a design value, and the same trial found the cover reduced the drought resilience of the young rubber on water-limited ground. MB: 67 to 84% of its nitrogen drawn from the atmosphere by 15N isotope dilution (Cheah, Zaharah & Aminuddin 2010, Oil Palm Bulletin 60): a proportion, not a quantity, and we do not publish an absolute kg figure for MB. CP and CM: no verified species-specific nitrogen figure is published. CC: no species-specific annual rate; one Papua New Guinea oil palm study estimated 28 to 75% Ndfa (Pipai et al. 2023).
Related reading
- Best Cover Crops for Tropical Climates in Malaysia
- Cover Crop Establishment Guide: From Planting to 80% Ground Cover
- Multi-Species Cover Crop Mixes: Why Blending Outperforms Single-Species Planting
- Cover Crop Seed Buyer's Guide for Malaysian Plantations
- Soil Health Foundations: Why Cover Crops Are Essential for Malaysian Plantations
Source cover crop seed for your plantation
Chemiseed supplies all five tropical cover crop species with seed tested for germination and purity to ISTA and AOSA methods, and agronomic support. Browse the cover crop seeds collection, request a quotation, or plan quantities with the cover crop calculator.
Sources: Clermont-Dauphin et al. (2016), Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 217:79-88; Cheah, Zaharah & Aminuddin (2010), MPOB Oil Palm Bulletin 60; MPOB TT No. 501 / Information Series 588 (June 2012); Samedani et al. (2015), Int. J. Agric. Biol. 17(2): 251-260; PROSEA 4 (1992), Forages; Pipai et al. (2023), Plant and Soil 491:665-680; Tropical Forages database (CSIRO, CIAT, ILRI). Figures are presented with method and context; results depend on site, soil, rainfall, and management. Last reviewed October 2026.