Abstract
Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the density and composition of the soil weed seed bank when bean, corn, and soybean are cultivated in the no-tillage system (NTS) in rotation with winter cover crop species and in the conventional tillage system (CTS). The experiment was installed in a complete randomized block design with three replicates. The evaluation of the seed bank was performed on soil samples (0-10 and 10-20 cm) in four points of each experimental unit, at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days of cultivation. Bean, corn, and soybean crops were sown in the NTS with different soil cover crops in rotation, as well as in the CTS. The NTS provided a more dense and abundant soil seed bank of the species Gnaphalium spicatum and Oxalis corniculata when corn, soybean, and bean were cultivated. The species Lolium multiflorum showed lower density and less seeds in the soil seed bank when the NTS was adopted. The use of the winter cover crops black oat and cow vetch, cultivated individually or in consortium, resulted in a lower density of weed species, especially of L. multiflorum. The NTS provides a lower density of weed species in the soil seed bank than the CTS.
Highlights
The no-tillage system (NTS) was introduced in Brazil in the late 1960s and mid-1970s and, since has grown steadily compared with the conventional tillage system (CTS) (Silva et al, 2009)
One of the basic premises of the NTS is the maintenance of plant cover on the soil, which can contribute significantly to the reduction of the weed seed bank, either by the biomass produced or by the allelopathic potential of these species (Jabran et al, 2015; Buchanan et al, 2016)
The objective of this work was to evaluate the density and composition of the soil weed seed bank when bean, corn, and soybean are cultivated in the NTS in rotation with winter cover crop species and in the CTS
Summary
The no-tillage system (NTS) was introduced in Brazil in the late 1960s and mid-1970s and, since has grown steadily compared with the conventional tillage system (CTS) (Silva et al, 2009). The NTS has been almost entirely adopted in the country in crops such as bean, corn, and soybean (Acompanhamento..., 2017; FEBRAPDP, 2017) This technique offers innumerable advantages for the agricultural sector and the environment, mainly due to the reduction of soil losses caused by erosion, to the lower burning of organic matter with reduced CO2 release, and to pest control, among others (Silva et al, 2009; Buchanan et al, 2016; Scherner et al, 2016). This is the case of corn, teosinte, sesbania, cowage, rattlepod, and millet as summer cover crops, and of radish, lupine, ryegrass, cow vetch, and oat as winter cover crops (Rizzardi & Silva 2006; Monquero et al, 2009; Lamego et al, 2015). Buchanan et al (2016) assessed the cultivation of barley and clover alone or in consortium in the winter period for four years and concluded that there was a 50% reduction in the soil weed seed bank, mainly due to the physical or allelopathic effects of the biomass produced
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