Competição da Crotalaria sp. e Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu no consórcio com o milho

Abstract

The use of cover crops is a practice used in different soil conservation management systems and aims to produce a layer of plant material on the soil to prevent erosion, also providing better water infiltration in the soil, avoiding evaporation, improving nutrient cycling, and increasing the content of organic matter in the soil. We conducted the experiments in a greenhouse at two locations, Sete Lagoas-MG and Lavras-MG, with the objective of evaluating the competition between the species Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu (Brachiaria) and Crotalaria sp. (Crotalaria), grown in different proportions. The treatments consisted of Brachiaria/Crotalaria in a consortium in the following proportions (100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 40/60, 20/80, and 0/100) in single cultivation, for the first experiment, and in consortium with corn in the second experiment. In the first experiment, we evaluated plant height, dry mass, and number of Crotalaria leaves Brachiaria shoots. In the second experiment, we evaluated plant height, leaf and stem dry mass, the number of leaves, leaf area, and stem diameter of the corn. The analyses indicate that Brachiaria is a better competitor when compared to the Crotalaria, obtaining better productivity in both locations and having greater aggressiveness. Furthermore, the higher the proportion of Brachiaria in a consortium, the smaller the plant height, the number of leaves, dry mass, and leaf area of the corn.