Can Soil Moisture and Crop Production Be Influenced by Different Cropping Systems?

Abstract

The different conditions of soil vegetation cover combined with irrigation management and/or agricultural production systems can influence soil moisture content and crop yields. This study investigated the impact of agricultural production systems and center pivot irrigation management on soil moisture content during the cultivation of soybean and off-season corn crops. Two field experiments were conducted during the 2018–2019 growing season in tropical Cerrado soil conditions; one experiment consisted of the application of three irrigation water depths (0%, 50%, and 100% of the crop evapotranspiration) during soybean cultivation in a no-tillage system under ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis) straw, and the second experiment consisted of the intercropped or nonintercropped cultivation of corn hybrids with ruzigrass in an agricultural area with and without the influence of eucalyptus reforestation. The volumetric soil moisture was measured using an electronic soil moisture meter (Hidrofarm), and the 1000-grain mass and yield of the soybean and corn were measured in the two trials. Irrigation and the no-till system did not influence soybean yields. The soybean cultivars NA 5909 RG and TMG 7067 IPRO presented TGM above 180 g, and this represented on average a 22% higher TGM than the BMX DESAFIO RR and CD 2737 RR. The presence of eucalyptus forest promoted a 1.5% increase in soil moisture in the corn crop. Soil management systems, such as irrigation, use cover crops, which may not increase the productivity of soybean and corn crops as expected.