Wilson Mozena Leandro

Influência de rotações de culturas nas propriedades físico-hídricas de um Latossolo Vermelho em plantio direto

The adoption of no-tillage system, with the inclusion of grass species of high C/N relationship, can minimize the structural degradation of the soil. The objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of including Brachiaria in crop rotation systems on the physical-hydric properties and the organic matter content in a Dystrophic Oxisol under no-tillage. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design, in split plots, with four replications. The plots were composed by four systems of crop rotation and the subplots by four sampling depths (0-10; 10-20; 20-40, and 40-60 cm). The crops were: rice (R); irrigated dry bean (DB); corn (C); soybean (S); rice (R+B), corn (C+B), and soybean (S+B) intercropped with Brachiaria. The crop rotation systems were: S1 - R/DB/C/DB/S/DB; S2 - R+B/DB/C+B/DB/S+B/DB; S3 - C/DB/S/DB/S/DB; and S4 - C+B/DB/S+B/DB/S+B/DB. It was considered a native forest, located at 500 m from the experiment, as reference. The inclusion of Brachiaria in crop rotation systems did not affect soil bulk density, macroporosity, and available soil water capacity. Total soil porosity and organic matter content of the soil were favored in the crop rotations that included more number of soybean cultivations. The association of soybean with Brachiaria contributed to the stability of the aggregates and the summer grasses with Brachiaria to reduce the soil resistance to penetration.

Produção e ciclagem de nutrientes por plantas de cobertura nas culturas de arroz de terras altas e de soja

The cover crops in no-till system can contribute to the formation of mulch and nutrient cycling to annual crops in succession. The objective of this study was to evaluate biomass production and nutrient cycling of cover crops sown in the second growing season, in crop rotation after upland rice and soybean, in no-tillage and conventional tillage systems, on a Red Latassol of Rio Verde, state of Goias, from April 2008 to April 2010. The experiment was evaluated in randomized strips, in a 5 x 6 factorial design, with four replications. In the horizontal strips two soil management systems (after three years of no-tillage and conventional systems) were evaluated and the cover crops in the vertical strips. Biomass and ground cover and nutrient cycling rates were only evaluated in the no-till treatments, in a 5 x 6 factorial arrangement, where the plots were subdivided, corresponding to six harvest dates of dried biomass 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after cutting of the cover crops. The following cover crops were sown in the second growing season: Brachiaria ruziziensis, Pennisetum glaucum and B. ruziziensis + Cajanus cajan and a fallow treatment as reference. Biomass production and the rates of soil cover and nutrient accumulation and release by cover crops as well as rice and soybean yield were evaluated. B. ruziziensis and B. ruziziensis + C. cajan performed best in biomass production, ground cover and nutrient accumulation at the end of the cover crops. The nutrients N and K had the highest concentration in the biomass, and the highest nutrient release to the soil was observed for K and P. The highest rice yield was observed when grown in no-tillage on crop residues of P. glaucum and B. ruziziensis, while soybean yields did not differ in the treatments.