Abstract
Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of the soil and its relation with soybean (Glycine max) yield in an integrated crop-livestock system (ICLS), with intercropping between grasses and legumes in the pasture phase. The experiment was carried out in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, on a dystrophic Oxisol, in which grasses (Megathyrsus maximus 'BRS Tamani' and Urochloa brizantha 'BRS Piatã'), intercropped with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata 'BRS Tumucumaque') and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan 'BRS Mandarim'), were cultivated after soybean harvest. A randomized complete block design was used, with three replicates, in a split-plot arrangement, in which grasses were considered as plots, and legumes as subplots. Legume intercrops provided increases of C and total N stocks. The intercrops caused the increase of C and N of the microbial biomass, whereas the single cultures contributed to stress in the soil microbiota. The activity of the urease enzyme was sensitive to management changes in the short term, but acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase were poorly sensitive indicators. Soil quality is high with intercropping between grasses and legumes, with positive effects on soybean grain yield.
Highlights
The major challenge faced by agriculture nowadays is to meet the demands of a highly productive potential, with a reduction of the agricultural expansion, together with the environmental quality and financial returns to producers (Roesch-McNally et al, 2018)
The association integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS)-no-tillage system (NTS) helps the increase of C due to the high-plant development both in the shoots and roots combined with animal grazing, which acts as a system catalyzer (Franzluebbers & Stuedemann, 2009)
The use of the intercropping promoted 416 and 338 kg ha-1 increases with the use of cowpea and pigeon pea, respectively, in comparison to single cropping of grasses alone (Figure 2)
Summary
The major challenge faced by agriculture nowadays is to meet the demands of a highly productive potential, with a reduction of the agricultural expansion, together with the environmental quality and financial returns to producers (Roesch-McNally et al, 2018). These systems are characterized by the development of animal and plant production in a concomitant or sequential way, in order to enable the best use of soil and other environmental resources, as well as to provide economic benefits (Carvalho et al, 2016). In this regard, Gazolla et al (2015), in a study in the Cerrado area, observed C content increases around 25.72 g kg-1 in ICLS-NTS, in comparison to Urochloa decumbens pasture. Alves et al (2011), when evaluating microbial attributes which are highly sensitive indicators of changes in soil management, observed 55% increases in the microbial biomass C in areas of ICLS, in comparison to tillage, and 60% in comparison to the native area of Cerrado
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