feedOne prospect to reduce the tradeoff between feed demands andsoil cover is partial residue harvesting while retaining adequateamounts of crop residue in the field to ensure some soil cover.This is only feasible in areas where sufficient biomass productionis possible. Further options to reduce such trade-offs are to providesubstitutes for the soil cover function of crop residues (via the use ofcover crops inter-cropped with maize or used in rotations) and/ortheir feed function (e.g. through forage crops).Some cover crops can also be used as animal feed. Althoughmost species cannot be grazed well, many can be used for cuttingand carrying even after months of drought but it implies high laborinput which is not always available or affordable. Seeds potentiallyalso provide feed, as with velvet bean in Campeche, Mexico. In prin-ciple it should be possible to substitute the stover’s feed functionthrough forage crops. Unfortunately, the incentives to do so areoften lacking in Mexico’s mixed systems, and forage crops are typi-cally limited to specialized livestock producers. More R&D is calledfor to improve and adapt forage varieties in Mexico and, hence, toreduce feed demands from maize stover.