Green and sweet corn grown under different cover crops and phases of the no-tillage system/Milhos verde e doce cultivados sob diferentes coberturas e estadios do sistema de plantio direto

• Published in: Revista brasileira de engenharia agrícola e ambiental 2022-03, Vol.26 (3), p.173
• Main Authors: Nunes, Diemisson O, Favaro, Joao H. de S, Charlo, Hamilton C. de O, Loss, Arcangelo, Barreto, Antonio C, Torres, Jose Luiz R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1415-4366
• DOI: 10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v26n3p173-179

HIGHLIGHTS: Sunn hemp is the cover crop that produces the largest dry matter in all phases of the no-tillage system. Considering adequate amounts of dry matter, the type of cover crop does not affect the yield of sweet and green corn. No-tillage system in transition or consolidation phases promotes better yields in green and sweet corn production. Special corn is cultivated all year conventionally round; however, its productivity increases when grown under a no-tillage system (NTS). This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of sweet and green corn cultivated under residues of different cover crops and the NTS implantation stages. Two experiments were carried out in the randomized block design, with four replications, in each of the three areas. The experiments consisted of evaluating the sweet and green corn, simultaneously, in three areas at different stages of development of NTS: initial (1 year), transition (7 years), and consolidation (19 years) with six types of cover crops: Signal grass (SG), Pearl millet (PM), Sunn hemp (SH), a mixture of SG + SH, SG + PM, and PM + SH. The dry matter (DM) production of the cover crops, the productivity of husked and unhusked ears, straw, and grain yield were evaluated. The SH had the highest dry mass production among the studied cover crops in all phases of the NTS. The phase of the NTS did not influence the productivity of ears with or without husk in green corn. The cultivation of sweet corn in transition and consolidation areas of the NTS showed better yields when compared to the initial phase of the system. Key words: Zea mays, Cerrado, cover plants, yield Os milhos especiais sao cultivados o ano todo e de forma convencional, contudo, quando cultivados sob sistema de plantio direto (SPD) pode aumentar a produtividade das culturas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o desempenho agronomico do milho doce e verde cultivados sob residuos de diferentes coberturas e estadios de implantacao do SPD. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos em delineamento de blocos casualizados, com quatro repeticoes, em cada uma das tres areas. Os experimentos consistiram da avaliacao do milho doce e verde, simultaneamente, nas tres areas em diferentes estadios de desenvolvimento do SPD: inicial (1 ano), transicao (7 anos) e consolidacao (19 anos); Seis tipos de cobertura: braquiaria (B), milheto (M), crotalaria (C), mistura de B + C, B + M e M + C. Avaliou-se a producao de massa seca (MS) das coberturas, as produtividades de e