Amelioration of degraded soils is time-consuming and expensive. Green manure and cover crops have been widely used in this remediation process since these plants produce a large amount of phytomass at a low cost, especially if they are tolerant to soil acidity. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of liming on dry matter yield of the following 16 species, under greenhouse conditions: eight winter crops (Lollium multiflorum, Avena strigosa, Lathyrus sativus, Lupinus angustifolius, Pisum sativum, Secale cereale, […]

A field experiment was carried out from 1990 to 1994 in the experimental area of the Soil Department at the Federal University of Santa Maria, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on an Hapludalf to evaluate the potential of some winter legumes as N suppliers to no-tillage corn. A completely randomized block design with split-plots was used, with the winter crops in the main plots and the N rates for corn in the split-plots. In the main plots, the […]

A long-term field trial was carried-out in Jaboticabal (SP) to estimate the effect of production systems on soil nitrogen and soil organic matter fractions. The treatments tested were corn in conventional sowing in summer and no tillage in winter (C-Mi-P), maize in direct sowing in summer and no tillage in winter (D-Mi-P), maize in direct sowing in summer, Mucuna aterrina as green manure in winter (D-Mi-Mu), maize in direct sowing in summer, Cajanus cajan as green manure in winter (D-Mi-Gu), […]

Root system growth of the common bean, variety IAC-Carioca, under center pivot irrigation in rotation with fallow; corn; black oat; sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.); pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] and velvet bean (Mucuna aterrima) was evaluated during a non-conventional (Autumn – Winter) cultivation period, from 1993 to 1995, on a typic Haplorthox soil, at an experimental area of the Instituto Agronômico, in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. The crop sequences of common bean with corn and green manure […]

The no-tillage system with grain crops occupies today 2.5 millions hectares in the state of Paraná. Besides the traditional rotation system with wheat and soybean, in many areas green manure cover crops are also sown in the Winter and corn in the Summer. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in some of the soil chemical properties after eight years under the crop rotation systems: wheat-soybean-black oat-soybean (WOS), wheat-soybean-lupine-corn-black oat-soybean (LCO), lupine-corn-wheat-soybean (LC) and compare them with the […]

Understanding the chemistry behavior in acid soils during the decomposition of plant residues is very important for the management of these soils. The effects of incubation (0, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days) of finely ground residues of oil seed radish (Raphanus sativus), soybean (Glycine max) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) (at 2 and 4%) with samples of Bw horizon of three Oxisols of the state of Paraná, Brazil, on the soil pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble and exchangeable […]

A field experiment of soil and water losses by erosion was carried out during six consecutive agricultural years (1973/74 to 1978/79) at the Experimental Center of Campinas, Instituto Agronomico of São Paulo, Brazil, in a Typic Haplorthox, to evaluate soil loss ratio (SLR) for three green manures: Crotalaria juncea L., Stizolobium aterrinum Piper et Tracy and Dolichos lablab L. Four cropstage periods were defined as isolated periods (0-30, 30-60, 60-90, and 60-120 days after planting), and as accumulated cropstage period (0-30, […]

In general, farming systems have contributed to highly unstable conditions in agroecosystems, resulting in severe environmental degradation. The present study aims to verify the potential of green manure use in the São Carlos region (SP), as a complementary technique to cropping systems present in the region under investigation, with the objective of improving the quality of its agroecosystems. The region was delimited based on its climate, geomorphology and administrative characteristics, obtained from basic maps and handled through a Geographic Information […]

A field experiment, located on a private farm close to Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil, was conducted on a severely eroded soil (Ultisol-Entisol association), which has been planted with sugar cane for the last 30 years. The objective was to characterize the spatial variability of soil and plant attributes. An area of 50 by 70 m was divided into 10 columns and 14 rows in a grid of 5 m, resulting in 140 sampling points. Soil samples were collected […]

The aim of this study was to identify corn production systems using green manure crops showing characteristics of sustainability. The experiments were carried out on a Yellow-Red Podzolic soil, 5.5% slope, at Federal University of Santa Maria, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 1991 to 1993. Plot dimensions were 3.5 m by 22.0 m, as defined by the methodology of natural rainfall erosion plots. The treatments consisted of: (i) bare soil, (ii) black oat (Avena strigosa) + common […]