Cover Crop Seeding Rate Guide for the Philippines

Sowing cover crop seed into soil by hand, illustrating seeding rate application
Published seeding rates for tropical legume cover crops depend on the source and on whether you sow one species or a mixture. Tropical Forages gives Pueraria javanica about 4 kg/ha and Centrosema pubescens 3 to 5 kg/ha broadcast as single species and, for oil palm, Calopogonium caeruleum 1 to 1.5 kg/ha with Pueraria javanica 5 to 7.5 kg/ha. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board specifies the conventional legume cover crop mixture as 8 kg/ha (Pueraria javanica 4 + Centrosema pubescens 3 + Calopogonium caeruleum 1) with 5 g Rhizobium per kg of seed, and PROSEA 4 gives 2 to 5 kg/ha of mixture in the interrow. We have found no published single-species rate for Calopogonium mucunoides, so we set it on the quotation for your site. Mucuna bracteata is not broadcast: in MPOB TT No. 501 it was raised in a polybag nursery and transplanted at about 320 seedlings/ha, two per palm point, from about 500 seeds (75 g) on deep peat; Samedani et al. (2015) planted 680 seedlings/ha at 1.5 m spacing on mineral soil.

These are the published figures, each with its source (MPOB, PROSEA, Tropical Forages, FAO and Malaysian estate survey data). No Philippine institution publishes a seeding rate (see below), so we set the rate for your site on the quotation (request a quotation). State the establishment method alongside any rate, because the right number depends on whether you are sowing a single species, a mixture, or transplanting.

Published seeding rates by species

Species Single species (broadcast) Component within a mixture Method note
Pueraria javanica (PJ) About 4 kg/ha (Tropical Forages) 4 kg/ha in the MPOB blend; 5 to 7.5 kg/ha with CC 1 to 1.5 kg/ha (Tropical Forages) Fast pioneer; half of the MPOB blend
Calopogonium mucunoides (CM) Set on the quotation; we have found no published single-species rate 1 to 3 kg/ha within a 12 to 15 kg/ha mixture (Tropical Forages); not in the MPOB blend Fast early establishment; short-lived pioneer
Centrosema pubescens (CP) 3 to 5 kg/ha broadcast (Tropical Forages) 3 kg/ha in the MPOB blend Shade-tolerant; about 0.5 kg/ha as a minor component in surveyed Malaysian rubber estate mixes (Chee and Ahmad Faiz 1991)
Calopogonium caeruleum (CC) No published single-species rate found 1 kg/ha in the MPOB blend; 1 to 1.5 kg/ha with PJ 5 to 7.5 kg/ha (Tropical Forages) Shade-tolerant, slow start, persistent; expensive and a poor seeder, so usually the smallest component and often established from cuttings
Mucuna bracteata (MB) Not broadcast Transplanted Polybag nursery, then transplant: about 320 seedlings/ha from about 500 seeds (75 g) on deep peat (MPOB TT No. 501); 680 seedlings/ha at 1.5 m spacing on mineral soil (Samedani et al. 2015)

The component figures are shares of a total mixture rate, not stand-alone rates. They do not sum to a recommended blend on their own: the governing number for any blend is the total rate for the mixture as sown, given in the next section. Confirm the split with us for your site.

Sources: MPOB TT No. 501 (2012) for the MPOB conventional blend and for MB nursery establishment on deep peat at 320 seedlings/ha; Samedani et al. (2015), Int. J. Agric. Biol. 17(2): 251 to 260, for MB at 680 seedlings/ha on mineral soil; Tropical Forages (CSIRO, QAAFI, ILRI and CIAT, 2020 edition); PROSEA 4: Forages (1992); FAO, The Oil Palm (Better Farming Series 24); Chee and Ahmad Faiz (1991), ACIAR Proceedings No. 32. Rates assume good seedbed contact and adequate moisture; scarify or treat hard seed where germination testing indicates.

Mucuna bracteata is never broadcast. MB is raised in a polybag nursery and transplanted. In MPOB TT No. 501, on deep peat, about 320 seedlings per hectare, two per palm point, were raised from about 500 seeds (75 g). Broadcast-style rates in kilograms per hectare are sometimes quoted for MB; they are many times the seed this method needs and lead to large over-orders. If you have been quoted MB in kilograms per hectare, check the establishment method before you buy.

Total seed rate for a mixed legume cover crop stand

Most plantation growers sow a legume mixture rather than a single species, so that a fast pioneer gives early ground cover while shade-tolerant species persist as the canopy closes. There is no single universal total for such a mixture, and no institutional source claims there is. Published totals differ by source, by crop and by how the area is measured (see the comparison table below). The right figure depends on the number of species in the blend, the establishment method, the soil, the terrain, and the germination of your seed lot.

The most widely cited standard is 8 kg/ha. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board specifies the conventional legume cover crop mixture as Pueraria javanica 4 kg/ha + Centrosema pubescens 3 kg/ha + Calopogonium caeruleum 1 kg/ha, a 4:3:1 split totalling 8 kg/ha, inoculated with 5 g Rhizobium (RRI strain) per kg of seed.

Source: MPOB TT No. 501, MPOB Information Series 588, June 2012; Hasnol Othman, Farawahida Mohamad Darus and Zulkifli Hashim, "Best Management Practices for Oil Palm Cultivation on Peat: Mucuna bracteata as Ground Cover Crop", Table 1, treatment C2. Treat this as an institutional best-management-practice recommendation, not a primary field measurement. MPOB states 8 kg/ha as the rate conventional in the Malaysian oil palm industry and uses it as the control treatment in the trial, rather than reporting it as an experimentally optimised result.

Two limits on the MPOB figure. First, the trial is on deep peat at the MPOB Research Station, Teluk Intan, Perak, and we have found no MPOB publication stating a separate seeding rate for mineral soils; the 8 kg/ha should not be read as a mineral-soil recommendation. Second, TT No. 501 does not state whether its 8 kg/ha is expressed per gross hectare or per hectare of interrow area actually sown. For a plot-based trial specification gross area is the likelier reading, but the source does not say so, and the distinction matters (see below).

Published mixture totals, for comparison

Total Blend Source Type and context
4 to 6 kg/ha PJ + CP + CM, split not stated FAO, The Oil Palm (Better Farming Series 24) Institutional recommendation; smallholder oil palm
6.3 kg/ha PJ 3.6 + CM 1.6 + CP 0.5 + CC 0.6 Chee and Ahmad Faiz (1991), ACIAR Proceedings No. 32, pp. 32 to 35 Primary measurement: surveyed mean of five Malaysian rubber estates, sown in the interrows
6 to 9 kg/ha CC 1 to 1.5 + PJ 5 to 7.5 Tropical Forages (2020), Calopogonium caeruleum Institutional recommendation; stated as current practice for oil palm in Southeast Asia
8 kg/ha PJ 4 + CP 3 + CC 1 (4:3:1) MPOB TT No. 501 (2012), treatment C2 Institutional best-management-practice recommendation; oil palm on peat, Malaysia. MPOB's own term is "conventional LCC"
2 to 5 kg/ha calopo : centro : kudzu 5:4:1, or centro : kudzu 4:1 PROSEA 4: Forages (1992), Pueraria phaseoloides Institutional compilation; rubber and oil palm, quoted per hectare of interrow area sown
12 to 15 kg/ha Four-species mixture Tropical Forages (2020), Calopogonium mucunoides Institutional compilation; tree plantations, Southeast Asia

Why published seeding rates look contradictory

Three distinctions explain almost every apparent conflict between published figures. Conflating them is what produces the very low "mixture" numbers that circulate online.

1. A total is not a per-species component

Tropical Forages gives 1 to 3 kg/ha of calopo "in species mixtures of 12 to 15 kg legume seed". The 1 to 3 kg/ha is calopo's share of a 12 to 15 kg/ha total, not a rate for the mixture. Quote either number on its own as "the rate" and the result is wrong several times over. Always check which of the two a figure is.

2. Interrow hectare is not gross hectare

Rates are often quoted per hectare of interrow area actually sown, not per gross planted hectare. PROSEA 4 gives its mixture rate of 2 to 5 kg/ha for the interrow, and the RRIM estate survey records legumes "planted in the interrows". Palm circles, harvest paths and frond stacks are not sown, so the sown interrow is typically only part of the gross area. The same job therefore reads as a higher number on an interrow basis than on a gross basis, which alone can explain a gap between two published figures.

3. Grazed pasture rates are not cover crop rates

Do not use pasture rates for cover cropping. Rates for Pueraria in grazed pasture mixtures sown with grasses serve a completely different purpose and are lower than plantation establishment practice. They are sometimes misquoted as cover crop rates. They are not.

Two further reasons rates legitimately differ: establishment method (drilled rows or dibbled pockets generally use less seed than broadcasting), and stand purpose (topping up an existing, degraded ground cover needs less seed than establishing a new stand).

Is there a Philippine seeding rate?

No Philippine institutional seeding rate exists. The Philippine Code of Good Agricultural Practices for Coconut (PNS/BAFS 238:2018, issued by the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards) recommends leguminous cover cropping but specifies no seeding rate. We have found no rate for legume cover crops from any Philippine institution, and none from any institution specifically for coconut. Every Philippine figure on this page, including ours, is therefore an extrapolation from Malaysian and wider Southeast Asian oil palm and rubber practice, not a Philippine recommendation. We would rather say that plainly than imply an authority that does not exist. Treat the published Malaysian figures as the transferable evidence base, and confirm against your own site conditions.

Seeding rate calculator

Estimate the seed quantity for your area. Choose a species or mixture and enter your area in hectares.

Enter an area to see the estimated seed quantity.

This is a planning estimate from published figures: PJ uses about 4 kg/ha (Tropical Forages); CP uses 4 kg/ha, the middle of 3 to 5; the CC plus PJ option uses 7.5 kg/ha, the middle of 6 to 9; the MPOB option uses MPOB's stated 8 kg/ha; and the PROSEA 4 option uses 3.5 kg/ha, the middle of 2 to 5, which applies to interrow area only, so enter interrow hectares for it. Calopogonium mucunoides and C. caeruleum sown alone are not listed because we have found no published single-species rate for them. Final quantity depends on seedbed condition, season, germination percentage, whether you are sowing a single species or a mixture, and whether your area is measured gross or as interrow only. Kudzu Seeds Trading sets the rate for your site on the quotation.

How to establish a cover crop in the Philippines

Good establishment matters more than the exact rate. The steps that matter most:

  1. Prepare the ground. Clear and lightly cultivate the inter-row, remove competing weeds, and create a firm, fine seedbed for good seed-to-soil contact.
  2. Time it to the rains. Sow at the onset of the wet season so seedlings get reliable moisture while the cover establishes.
  3. Treat hard seed. Pueraria, Centrosema, and Calopogonium have hard seed coats; scarify or use a brief hot-water treatment where germination tests show low emergence.
  4. Sow at the right rate. Sow evenly at the rate above, then lightly rake or roll to cover the seed shallowly. Drilled rows or dibbled pockets give better establishment than broadcasting.
  5. Transplant Mucuna bracteata. Raise MB in polybags in a nursery and transplant at about 320 seedlings/ha once seedlings are established, rather than broadcasting.
  6. Manage early competition. Spot-weed until the cover closes, then let it suppress weeds on its own.

Legume cover crops fix atmospheric nitrogen and build soil organic matter, but the nitrogen contribution varies widely with site, species, age of the stand, and management. Legume cover contributes nitrogen; adjust your fertiliser programme only after soil and leaf analysis shows what the cover supplies on your block.

Frequently asked questions

What is the seeding rate for Pueraria javanica in the Philippines?
Tropical Forages gives a seeding rate of about 4 kg/ha for Pueraria javanica (PJ) sown alone. In mixtures, PJ is 4 kg/ha of the 8 kg/ha MPOB conventional blend, and 5 to 7.5 kg/ha alongside Calopogonium caeruleum 1 to 1.5 kg/ha in the Tropical Forages oil palm recommendation. No Philippine institution publishes a rate, so we set the rate for your site on the quotation. Ensure good seed-to-soil contact and sow at the start of the wet season.
What is the total seeding rate for a legume cover crop mixture?
There is no single universal figure. The best-cited figure is the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's conventional blend of Pueraria javanica 4 kg/ha plus Centrosema pubescens 3 kg/ha plus Calopogonium caeruleum 1 kg/ha, a 4:3:1 split totalling 8 kg/ha, inoculated with 5 g Rhizobium per kg of seed. This is MPOB's statement of conventional industry best practice rather than a measured optimum, and it comes from a trial on peat. 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.
How much Mucuna bracteata seed do I need per hectare?
Mucuna bracteata is not broadcast. It is raised in a polybag nursery and transplanted. In MPOB TT No. 501, on deep peat, about 320 seedlings per hectare, two per palm point, were raised from about 500 seeds (75 g). Samedani et al. (2015) planted 680 seedlings per hectare at 1.5 m spacing on mineral soil. This is far less seed than a broadcast species needs, because each seedling is raised individually and planted out, so check the establishment method on any MB quote given in kilograms per hectare.
Why do seeding rates differ so much between sources?
Published figures measure different things. Some are single-species rates, some are totals for a mixture and some are one species' share of a mixture; some are per hectare of interrow actually sown and others per gross hectare; and rates for grazed pasture mixtures are lower than plantation cover crop rates. Establishment method matters too: drilled or dibbled seed generally needs less than broadcasting. Check which kind of figure you are reading before you compare it with another.
What is a good cover crop mixture for oil palm or rubber?
Use the Malaysian Palm Oil Board conventional blend: Pueraria javanica 4 kg/ha, Centrosema pubescens 3 kg/ha and Calopogonium caeruleum 1 kg/ha, a 4:3:1 split totalling 8 kg/ha. It is the best-cited published figure for Malaysian oil palm and it combines a vigorous pioneer with two shade-tolerant persistent species. Equal-parts blends are sometimes quoted, but no institutional source we have found recommends one.
Is there an official Philippine seeding rate for cover crops?
No. The Philippine Code of Good Agricultural Practices for Coconut, PNS/BAFS 238:2018, recommends leguminous cover cropping but specifies no seeding rate, and we have found no rate from any other Philippine institution. Every Philippine figure, including ours, is an extrapolation from Malaysian and wider Southeast Asian oil palm and rubber practice.
When should I sow cover crops in the Philippines?
Sow at the onset of the wet season so seedlings have reliable moisture while the cover establishes. In areas with two wet peaks, the earlier, more dependable rains are usually the safer window.
Do you provide seeding-rate guidance with an order?
Yes. Kudzu Seeds Trading provides species-specific seeding rates and establishment guidance tailored to your crop, region, and soil with every quote. Contact us with your area and crop and we will confirm the exact rate and seed quantity.
Request a Seed Quote and Rate Plan

We reply within one business day (Philippine time). Minimum order and lead time are confirmed on the quotation.

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