The dynamics of nutrient availability and other soil properties can be strongly altered by agricultural practices like intercropping. A test was made on an agricultural soil with the following treatments: (i) sole cropped soybean, (II) sole cropped maize and (III) intercropped corn-soybean in a 1:2 ratio. Surface soil samplings were made in two moments: the first one (F1) was made with corn at V5 and soybean just emerged; the second one (F2) with corn crop at R1 and soybean crop at V7-R1, both at two distances of the furrows: 5 and 19 cm. Oxidizable C contents were always maximum at the treatments including corn cropping. At both dates, extractable P was maximum at sole corn and minimum at sole soybean crop, which can be attributed to a strong uptake by the leguminous plant. In the first measurement date, at 5 cm of the corresponding furrow, nitrate availability was significantly greater at the soybean treatments with respect to treatments including corn, whereas in the second date, nitrate availability was minimum at sole soybean, which seems to be due to differences in crops development. Finally, the practice of intercropping, within the frame of this test, did not prove to be a viable alternative to limit the existence of high nitrate levels.
