Abstract
Nitrogen (N) application and weed control play critical roles in the development of crops. In maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation, surface broadcast N application aiming at higher productivities is a common practice. However, N addition under weed competition could promote weeds rather than maize. To investigate this, a field study was developed over a Brazilian eutric nitisol for summer maize. We manipulated the presence (+) or absence (−) of surface broadcast N fertilization (NS) at the recommended dose (90 kg ha−1 N) and weed control (WC), obtaining the treatments NS+WC+, NS+WC−, NS−WC+, NS−WC−. We aimed to determine 1) whether maize could profit from N application even under weed competition, and 2) how treatments would affect maize's leaf area index and all grain yield components (cobs area−1, rows cob−1, grains row−1 and individual grain weight). We hypothesized that broadcast N application could jeopardize maize productivity by favoring weed development. Under no weed control, N application increased weed biomass by ∼58%, which resulted in reductions of 57% in leaf area index, 6.9% in rows per cob, 48% in grains per row, and 18.7% in grain weight. Ultimately, the grain yield (8216 kg ha−1) of the best performing treatment (NS+WC+) was 66% higher than that with the worst performance (NS+WC−), of 2797.3 kg ha−1. We conclude that in fertilized areas, weed control should be a priority, since the N applied under weed competition could be detrimental to maize's leaf area index, and affect most yield components and overall productivity.
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