Image Number K8616-1

Despite soil-parching drought, green sweet-corn plants in the background tower above protective organic mulch in a cornfield in Beltsville, MD. In the foreground, plant physiologist John Teasdale inspects corn planted in bare soil that won't be worth harvesting. Some growers have adopted vetch systems for tomatoes, and researchers are testing similar cover-crop systems for peppers, cantaloupes, snap beans and other vegetables.

Photo by Keith Weller.

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