Abstract
Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) managements on the physical properties of a Haplohumox, and on the yields of corn and of ryegrass cultivated in succession to corn. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design, with three treatments and three replicates, in which treatments were the different managements of ryegrass under no-tillage for silage, soil cover, and grazing. After nine years of management, samples were collected at 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20, and 0.20-0.30-m soil depths, to determine the following soil properties: texture, total organic carbon, soil bulk density, macroporosity, microporosity, total porosity, and resistance to root penetration. The index of structural stability was estimated from texture and total organic carbon data. Maximum soil bulk density and permanent wilting point were also estimated from pedotransfer functions. Corn and ryegrass dry matter yields were determined from plants harvested inside the plot area. Total organic carbon content increased as depth increased. The ryegrass managements in no-tillage system, in succession to corn, does not influence the soil physical properties of a Haplohumox, and maintains high corn and ryegrass yields.
Highlights
No-tillage system (NT) usually subjects the soil to high-traffic load, soil disturbance in sowing row, and the alternation of summer and winter crops, which may cause soil compaction (Mentges et al, 2016)
Compaction is often reported in soils under NT (Moraes et al, 2014, 2016), which can damage the soil physical quality due to air availability, reduction of water and nutrients available to the plants, reducing the volume of soil explored by the roots, as a consequence of the increased bulk density and resistance to root penetration (Silva et al, 2014)
The total organic carbon (TOC) levels were the same among treatments at 0.00–0.05 m soil depth; even for ryegrass left as soil cover, there was no greater contribution of TOC in this layer (Table 1)
Summary
No-tillage system (NT) usually subjects the soil to high-traffic load, soil disturbance in sowing row, and the alternation of summer and winter crops, which may cause soil compaction (Mentges et al, 2016). Despite the benefits resulting from de presence crop residues on the soil, in the region of Campos Gerais, in Paraná state, Brazil (one of the most important dairy basins and the most productive one in Brazil (Paraná, 2016), cattle farmers remove the plants from the soil in the vegetative phase for the production of silage. In these regions, corn (Zea mays) cultivated during the summer is the most used crop for the production of silage (Mendonça et al, 2014). Corn-ryegrass succession is largely used for the production of silage in no-till system, in the dairy basin of Castro, PR, Brazil, in which ryegrass has been used by its adaptation to the region’s climate, and to provide more than one cut per crop due to tillering and regrowth after the first cut
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