Agronomic performance of soybean crops under integrated production systems in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon biome

Rodrigo Da S Ribeiro,Andreia M Aker,Alexandre M A Dos Passos

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v24n12p793-799

Abstract

ABSTRACT Soybean is an alternative crop to be used in intensified land use systems and recovery of degraded areas in Brazil. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance of soybean crops under integrated production systems in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon biome. Soybean crop was grown in alleys with widths of 18, 30, and 42 m between the 4-row tree sets of eucalyptus and evaluated in two agricultural years (2016-2017 and 2017-2018). Plant height, first pod insertion height, number of grains per pod, number of pods per plant, 100-grain weight, and grain yield of soybean plants at maturation stage were evaluated in different distances from the eucalyptus (10, 20, 30 and 45% of the alley width). The lowest mean grain yield was found for the alley of 18 m in the 2017-2018 agricultural year. The proximity of soybean plants to eucalyptus trees affects negatively the grain yield, plant height, first pod insertion height, plant population, and number of pods per plant. The crop-livestock-forest integration system, with the forest component consisting of 5-year-old eucalyptus trees (technical age for harvest), resulted in higher soybean grain yields for the alley of 42 m. The growth of soybean crops in alleys of 18 m between 4-row tree sets of 5-year-old eucalyptus trees is not recommended for the Southwestern region of the Brazilian Amazon biome.

Highlights

Soybean crops have been grown in newly open and agricultural areas in the Amazon region in the recent years (CONAB, 2018), mainly over degraded pasture areas
The substitution of traditional soil management systems in the Amazon region, which involves the use of plows and harrows, deforestation and burning of native forests, or fallow, to more sustainable systems, such as no-tillage and crop-livestock or crop-livestock-forest integration, is a strategy for increasing food production and for an adequate use of natural resources (Tollefson, 2015; Jankowski et al, 2018)
The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance of soybean crops under integrated production systems with 5-year-old eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) trees during two agricultural years, in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon biome

Summary

Introduction

Soybean crops have been grown in newly open and agricultural areas in the Amazon region in the recent years (CONAB, 2018), mainly over degraded pasture areas. Soil degradation can be reversed through conservationist practices, which require the adoption and technical information of soil management and cultural practices adapted and appropriate to the region (Passos et al, 2017). In this context, the substitution of traditional soil management systems in the Amazon region, which involves the use of plows and harrows, deforestation and burning of native forests, or fallow, to more sustainable systems, such as no-tillage and crop-livestock or crop-livestock-forest integration, is a strategy for increasing food production and for an adequate use of natural resources (Tollefson, 2015; Jankowski et al, 2018). The use of intercropping is important for crop-livestock-forest integration systems; it is an old technique used empirically in the past (Maezumi et al, 2018) that still requires experimental scientific evaluations (Morhart et al, 2014) for regionalized technological validation to be adequately used (Salton et al, 2014; Cerri et al, 2018)

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Conclusion