Abstract
The use of cover crops in no-tillage systems can provide better conditions for the development of soybean plants with positive effects on grain yield and growth analysis techniques allow researchers to characterize and understand the behavior of soybean plants under different straw covers. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize, using growth analysis, yield components and agronomic performance of soybean under common bean, Brachiaria brizantha and pearl millet straws. The experiment was performed on a soil under cerrado in the municipality of Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three treatments (cover crops) and five replications. Soybean grain yield was lower in the B. brizantha straw treatment (3,708 kg ha-1) than both in the pearl millet (4.772 kg ha-1) and common bean straw treatments (5,200 kg ha-1). The soybean growth analysis in B. brizantha, pearl millet and common bean allowed characterizing the variation in the production of dry matter of leaves, stems, pods and total and leaf area index that provided different grain yields. The cover crop directly affects the soybean grain yield.
Highlights
Soybean is an annual legume native to China, cultivated for centuries in that country and currently is planted in various regions of the world
Based on the hypothesis that the cover crop species influences the development and, the soybean grain yield, the aim of this study was to characterize, using the growth analysis, yield components and agronomic performance of soybean grown on common bean, B. brizantha and pearl millet straw
The straw mulch decomposition was similar regarding the rates of mass loss of the straw mulches: 0.25 mg m-2 day1 for B. brizantha, 0.23 mg m-2 day-1 for pearl millet and 0.20 mg m-2 day-1 for common bean (Figure 1)
Summary
Soybean is an annual legume native to China, cultivated for centuries in that country and currently is planted in various regions of the world. The no-tillage (or direct planting) is a farming system in which the soil is managed with minimum tillage, previous crop residues are retained on the soil surface and crop rotation is practiced The use of these practices provides reduced time spent in agricultural operations, increases in soil organic matter, nitrogen and soil biological activity, reduction in soil temperature fluctuations, reduction in sheet erosion, reduction in the amount of fertilizer and pesticides carried into nearby bodies of water and reduction in weed density, while allowing for a greater conservation of soil moisture; it is, considered a sustainable production system (Nascente et al, 2011; Oliveira et al, 2011; Nascente & Crusciol, 2012). In Brazil, since the 1970s, the NT system has been expanding, with a cultivated area over 25 million hectares (FEBRAPDP, 2012)
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