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Abstract
The use of cover crops is an important strategy for soil management in the Brazilian Cerrado to improve no-tillage (NT) systems. For this, it is necessary know the potential of cover crop species for biomass production, nutrient cycling, and persistence of residues on the soil surface in soils and climatic conditions of this biome. Thus, the experiment was developed to evaluate the agronomic potential of cover crops cultivated on an Oxisol (Latossolo Amarelo) in the Cerrado of Piauí, Brazil. The experiment was conducted from January 2015 to July 2016. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with 11 treatments and four replicates. The treatments consisted of single and intercropped cover species. The evaluations were: dry mass production, nutritional composition of the plants, nutrient accumulation by dry mass produced and decomposition rate of the dry mass produced for each treatment. The higher dry matter production was obtained with Crotalaria juncea, Cajanus cajan (cv. IAC-Fava larga), Pennisetum glaucum and Brachiaria ruziziensis. The lower dry matter production was obtained with Mucuna aterrima, and mix of Crotalaria spectabilis + Pennisetum glaucum. The higher nutrients accumulation in the plants occurred for Cajanus cajan (cv. IAC-Fava larga), Crotalaria juncea and Crotalaria spectabilis. The cover plants studied presented good potential for soil conservation, due to the permanence of residues on the surface, except for Mucuna aterrima and Crotalaria spectabilis.
Highlights
The southwest region of Piauí is part of the Brazilian agricultural frontier called MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia), which currently is in large agricultural expansion and intensification of land use for the cultivation of grains, fibers, energy materials, perennial crops and irrigated agriculture (Fontana et al, 2016)
Despite the great productive potential, many technical-scientific recommendations applied to the soils come from regions with different edaphoclimatic conditions
Such climatic characteristics associated with the low water retention by the soils make it impossible or more difficult to carry out a double cropping system in this region. Soil management practices such as no-tillage (NT), crop rotation and use of cover crops are important techniques which can maintain and/or promote yield gains and soil quality with less environmental impact (Krenchinski et al, 2018; Pavinato et al, 2017). These techniques are not adapted to the soil and climate conditions of the Cerrado in south Piauí, with poor results for NT, especially regarding the formation of straw, which is an essential factor for the good performance of this system
Summary
The southwest region of Piauí is part of the Brazilian agricultural frontier called MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia), which currently is in large agricultural expansion and intensification of land use for the cultivation of grains, fibers, energy materials, perennial crops and irrigated agriculture (Fontana et al, 2016). The region presents a dry season from May to November and a late rainy season Such climatic characteristics associated with the low water retention by the soils make it impossible or more difficult to carry out a double cropping system in this region. Soil management practices such as no-tillage (NT), crop rotation and use of cover crops are important techniques which can maintain and/or promote yield gains and soil quality with less environmental impact (Krenchinski et al, 2018; Pavinato et al, 2017).
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