Abstract
The long-term exploitation of natural resources by agricultural activities has resulted in the need for alternative measures to restore degraded soil. The cultivation of cover crops can generate great benefits for agricultural systems, enabling the exploitation of natural resources, including water, light and nutrients, as well as the recovery of degraded soils. This work aimed to assess the coverage rate, fresh mass and dry mass of cover crops from fall and winter as well as the floristic composition of the weeds. The work was conducted in field conditions in soil classified as eutroferric Red Oxisol in the region of the city of Palotina, Parana State, Brazil, using a random block experimental design with four replications. The treatments consisted of seven cover cultures: wild radish, linseed, triticale, rye, rapeseed, crambe, oats and fallow. The species with the highest coverage rates and fresh mass and dry mass values were wild radish, rapeseed and crambe. In the floristic and phytosociological data, the species with the highest incidence were Amaranthus retroflexus , Commelina benghalensis L., Brachiaria plantaginea and Gnaphalium spicatum .
Highlights
Agricultural activity was restricted by the existing natural resources, and dueto constant exploitation of these resources for crop production over time, it became necessary tore place the extracted nutrients
A randomized block experimental design with four replications was used, and the treatments consisted of seven cover crops: wild radish (Raphanus sativus L.), linseed (Linumu sitatissimum L.), triticale (Triticum turgid cereale (Kiss), rye (Secale cereale L.), rapeseed
Oat, and crambe showed the largest average rates of soil coverage in 2013 (Table 1), and their rates differed significantly from that of the fallow area, which was only populated with weeds
Summary
Agricultural activity was restricted by the existing natural resources, and dueto constant exploitation of these resources for crop production over time, it became necessary tore place the extracted nutrients. The constant search for sustainable management alternatives aimed at maintaining the physical, chemical and biological structure of the soil as well as favoring the utilization of available natural resources is of great importance to agricultural production systems (Blainski, Tormena, Fidalsk, & Guimarães, 2008). The use of crops to provide soil coverage is an approach that creates great benefits for agricultural systems by encouraging the exploitation of natural resources, including water, light and nutrients, in addition to controlling nematodes, recovering the physical properties of the soil, increasing soil fertility and organic matter content, diversifying and increasing the populations of microorganisms in the soil, and favoring nutrient recycling and mobilization (Correia & Durigan, 2008). Other important factors include the availability of seeds on the market, the appropriate machinery for management, the maintenance of biodiversity and environmental preservation (Gazola & Cavariani, 2011)
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