• Authors:
    • Lang, C.
    • Rios, E.
    • Moraes, A.
    • Carvalho, P.
    • Medrado, R.
    • Lopes, E.
  • Source: Scientia Agraria
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the decomposition of the residual dry mass and the initial release of nitrogen from different coverages winter for the subsequent cultivation of maize. The work was conducted in Major Vieira, SC, on a family property. The experimental design was a randomized block, with five treatments (alternative soil cover) and three replications. The treatments: (a) consortium of oat ( Avena strigosa)+ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum)+vetch ( Vicia spp.)+vesiculoso clover ( Trifolium vesiculosum), with grazing and nitrogen fertilization (100 kg of N); (b) Grassland of black oat+ryegrass+vetch+clover vesiculoso, with grazing and without nitrogen fertilization; (c) coverage (oat+ryegrass+vetch+vesiculoso clover), without grazing and without nitrogen fertilization; (d) forage turnip ( Raphanus sativus), without grazing and without nitrogen fertilization, and (e) fallow (control). The rate of decay was measured through pockets of decomposition (litter bags), collected in seven seasons during the corn crop. The turnip forage was the treatment that was more difficult to decompose according to their chemical characteristics. This limited the supply of nitrogen for the corn crop. Treatment coverage consortium made rapid initial release of N and thus was considered the most appropriate for use in succession with the corn crop. The grazing influenced the release of nitrogen, mainly by the lower amount of total dry mass produced. The grain yield of maize was not influenced by soil cover.
  • Authors:
    • Burdick, B. A.
    • Massey, R. E.
    • Nelson, K. A.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 103
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Early-seeded soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] relay intercropped into standing wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) using soybean seed-coat technology may allow profitable wheat production in the Midwest on highly erodible soils. Dry conditions in mid- to late June have reduced relay intercropped soybean stands and yield in some years. We hypothesized that using glyphosate as a wheat harvest aid would reduce the impact of wheat interference on relay intercropped soybean grain yield and increase gross margins. Field research conducted over four site-years in upstate Missouri evaluated timings for application of glyphosate as a harvest aid on wheat and relay intercropped soybean. The cost effectiveness of these cropping systems was compared to full-season soybean, double-cropped wheat-soybean, and wheat-only production systems. Glyphosate applied to wheat 1 wk before harvest, after late dough, in a relay intercrop production system with coated-soybean maintained wheat grain yields similar to nontreated wheat, and increased soybean grain yields 290 to 770 kg ha -1 compared to nontreated wheat relay intercropped or double-cropped with soybean. Earlier glyphosate application timings (2-3 wk before wheat harvest) reduced wheat grain yields 10 to 25% and grain density 3 to 13%, but soybean yield increased 430 to 520 kg ha -1 compared to nontreated wheat in a relay intercrop system. A relay intercrop system with seed coat technology and glyphosate as a harvest aid may allow farmers to maintain wheat in their crop rotation while minimizing risk associated with early fall frost or dry conditions at seeding that may otherwise decrease double-crop soybean yields.
  • Authors:
    • Hermansen, J.
    • Panneerselvam, P.
    • Halberg, N.
  • Source: Journal of Sustainable Agriculture
  • Volume: 35
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: This study compared farm production, crop yield, input cost, and income in organic and conventional farming systems in three states of India: Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The results showed that organic farming reduced the input cost without affecting the net margin in all three states. Total food production was found to be comparable for the two systems in two of three states. While yield of rice and wheat generally was lower under the organic systems, yield from intercropping food crops was generally higher. The number of agro-ecological methods and percentage of farms practicing different agro-ecological methods were higher under organic systems than conventional systems. These results suggest that organic farming has the potential to improve food security of small farmers by reducing indebtedness due to the lower cost of production without affecting total farm production and farm income.
  • Authors:
    • Ferguson, R.
    • Boquet, D.
    • Paxton, K.
  • Source: Louisiana Agriculture
  • Volume: 54
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: An experiment was conducted from 2001 to 2009 in Louisiana to analyze the profit potential of a soyabean/wheat double-crop was compared to a monocrop system. Wheat was planted in early to mid-November each year, and soybeans were planted immediately following wheat harvest, generally in mid-May. Monocrop soybeans were generally planted in late April or early May. The difference in yield for the duration of the experiment averaged about 3.6 bushels per acre. Although the double-crop soyabeans had lower average yields, this system also had additional income from the wheat crop. Wheat yields ranged from about 40 to almost 80 bushels per acre and averaged 58 bushels per acre from 2002 through 2009. For most of the years, the double-crop system produced higher net returns than soyabeans alone. During the experiment, the double-crop system net returns were 58.89 dollars per acre higher than the monocrop soybeans. Based on this analysis, double cropping soybeans and wheat could add significantly to a producer's net income.
  • Authors:
    • Dias, T.
    • Correa, M.
    • Alves, P.
    • Pereira, R.
  • Source: Revista Brasileira de Ciências Agrárias
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The success in weed control by using straw depends on the management time, straw quality and quantity. The objective of this research was to evaluate the suppressor effect of black-oats and millet straw cover on the incidence of weeds and on the productivity of the soybean crop. The experiment was carried out during the years 2006 and 2007, in an area from the Farm of Education, Research and Produtcion of FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal Campus, in a completely randomized block design, with four replications. Treatments consisted of different types of black oats and pearl millet straw management before soybean seeding (without management, obtained by machine cut, desiccated using glyphosate desiccation and with paraquat) and different periods of straw deposition (0, 15, 30 e 60 days before soybean seeding). The weed population and the characteristics of soybean growth and production were evaluated. The deposition of black oats and pearl millet straw provided reductions in weed density and dry mass, and this effect was more effective when the deposition occurred until 15 days prior to soybean seeding. The suppressor effect of black oats straw was more pronounced than that of pearl millet straw, regardless of the drying method, although the millet had a greater dry matter production. No significant differences were found between the drying methods and the straw effectiveness.
  • Authors:
    • Liu, M.
    • Zhai, H.
    • Shi, C.
    • Dong, B.
    • Ruan, F.
    • Qiao, Y.
  • Source: Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture
  • Volume: 19
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Ridge planting and intercropping of winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) are important cropping systems in the North China Plain (NCP), in which there exists an acute shortage of water resources especially for crop production. This study analyzed water use efficiency ( WUE) of winter wheat in wheat||spinach-tomato cropping system using both traditional and ridge cultivation as the control practices. Traditional cultivated spinach ( Spinacia oleracea L.) and tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Miller) system was the control cropping practice for the spinach||tomato intercropping system. The results showed that wheat grain yield under ridge planting and intercropping was 11% less than under traditional cultivation (401 kg.667 m -2). The reduction in grain yield was attributed to low tiller number as ridge-edge effect was not fully exploited. Tiller numbers of ridge-planted ridge-intercropped wheat were 13.2% and 8.2% less than traditional cultivated wheat system. Row tiller number was much less in either ridge-planted or ridge-intercropped systems than in traditional cultivation system. Comparisons among the three cropping systems suggested that traditional wheat cropping had the highest WUE (1.039 kg.667 m -2.mm -1), and that intercropping had the lowest WUE (0.868 kg 667 m -2.mm -1). Ridge cultivation had a smaller WUE (0.944 kg.666.7 m -2.mm -1) than traditional cultivation system because between-ridge water was not fully utilized. Yield of spinach was, however, not affected by wheat. Yields of intercropped and traditional cultivation spinach systems were 826 kg.667 m -2 and 851 kg.667 m -2, respectively, with a difference not statistically significant. However, tomato growth was greatly hampered under the intercropping system. Stem diameter and biomass per plant under intercropped tomato was respectively 27% and 37% less than that under traditional cultivation system. This suggested that after spinach harvest, tomato transplanting should be postponed as long as possible so as to shorten crop symbiosis and make the cropping system more manageable. It was therefore concluded that wheat||spinach-tomato cropping system facilitated di-season vegetable and food production, provided that the wheat and vegetable cultivars were properly selected and cultivated.
  • Authors:
    • Dube, R. K.
    • Dhyani, S. K.
    • Sharma, A. R.
    • Ratan, S.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 81
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted at Selakui, Dehradun during 2001-04 to study the effect of tillage (conventional and minimum) and mulching practices (no mulching and live mulching) under artificially created varying land slopes (0.5, 2.5, 4.5 and 9.5%) on soil-moisture conservation, productivity and nutrient uptake in maize ( Zea mays L.)-wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. emend Fiori & Paol.) cropping system. Sunnhemp ( Crotalaria juncea L.) intercropped with maize gave 0.87-1.09 tonnes biomass (dry weight) and accumulated 24.8-31.4 kg N/ha at 30 days of growth when it was mulched. Biomass and N accumulation generally decreased with increasing land slope and under minimum tillage. Maize performed better on moderate slopes (2.5-4.5%) than on the relatively flat (0.5%) and highly sloping land (9.5%). However, the yield of wheat decreased linearly and significantly with increasing slope due to less conservation of soil moisture on sloping lands during the previous rainy season. Conventional tillage gave significantly higher productivity of both maize and wheat than the minimum tillage. Intercropping of maize with sunnhemp and spreading the cut biomass as mulch at 30 days (live mulching) improved soil moisture conservation at maize harvest (+1.63 to 1.94%), and yield of maize (12.0%) as well as of following wheat (13.8%) compared with the no mulching.
  • Authors:
    • Zwirtes, A. L.
    • Baronio, C. A.
    • Rigon, J. P. G.
    • Capuani, S.
  • Source: Revista Verde de Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Sustentavel
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influences of different plants covering on the agronomic characteristics of beans. The experiment was conducted on Red Latossol alumino-ferric, using randomized block design with four repetitions, being the data submitted to the Tukey test and compared by orthogonal contrasts. Treatments consisted of covering plants, carrying its growth in single system, as well as some consortia, across species: Flaxseed ( Linum usitatissimum); Ryegrass ( Lollium multiflorum), Black and White Oats ( Avena stringosa and A. sativa), vetch ( Vicia sativa), wild radish ( Raphanus sativus) and Triticale ( Triticum secale). The agronomic attributes evaluated of bean were: the 1000 seeds per pod, length and number of pods per plant and plot, plant population and yield. Direct and different influence was verified on the components yield of beans, vegetables and the number of the larger relationship with productivity beans. Among the plants used predecessor, the Vetch and Turnip provided larger productive increment, differently of Ryegrass, as well as flaxseed, which resulted in lower yields beans.
  • Authors:
    • Goulart, R. Z.
    • Rocha, P. V. da
    • Santos, M. S. dos
    • Eltz, F. L. F.
    • Rocha, M. R. da
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIA DO SOLO
  • Volume: 35
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The watermelon is cultivated mainly by small producers, in sandy soils under conventional tillage, with occurrence of high erosion taxes, since the crop doesn't form canopy capable to cover the soil entirely. Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus L.) was evaluated under different cultivation systems on an Ultisol in the Central Depression of RS, Brazil, in an experiment in the 2008/2009 growing season. On 48 m 2 plots in a randomized block design with four repetitions, the following cultivation systems were tested: conventional tillage (CT), no-tillage (NT), NT chiseled with one chisel shank (NT1S), NT chiseled with two shanks (NT2S), NT chiseled with three shanks (NT3S), NT chiseled with four shanks (NT4S), NT chiseled with five shanks (NT5S); the distance between chisel shanks was 0.35 m. Data were analyzed by the Duncan test (p6 kg), the root surface area and root system distribution in the soil profile perpendicular to the sowing line were determined 30 and 60 d after sowing. Besides, some soil physical properties (soil density and resistance to penetration) were determined after the watermelon cycle. The yield was highest under CT (126 t ha -1), differing statistically from the other treatments. The total root area increased with intensity and area of soil mobilization, except in the NT4S treatment. In the CT treatment, no difference in depth was observed, but in the other treatments the 0-5 cm layer differed from the deeper layers. Resistance to penetration in the 0-10 cm layer was lower, which may be related to the higher root concentration in that layer.
  • Authors:
    • Spera, S.
    • Fontaneli, R.
    • Santos, H.
    • Maldaner, G.
  • Source: PESQUISA AGROPECUARIA BRASILEIRA
  • Volume: 46
  • Issue: 10
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The objective of this work was to assess energy conversion and balance of integrated crop-livestock production systems, under no-tillage. The experiment was carried out from 2001 to 2008. From 2001 to 2002, the following systems were evaluated: 1, wheat/soybean, and black oat pasture+common vetch/corn; 2, wheat/soybean, and black oat pasture+common vetch+ryegrass/corn; 3, wheat/soybean and black oat pasture+common vetch/millet pasture; 4, wheat/soybean and black oat pasture+common vetch+rygrass/millet pasture; 5, wheat/soybean, white oat/soybean, and black oat pasture+common vetch/millet pasture; 6, wheat/soybean, white oat/soybean, and black oat pasture+common vetch+rygrass/millet pasture. From 2003 to 2008, the following systems were evaluated: 1, wheat/soybean, and common vetch/corn; 2, wheat/soybean, and black oat pasture/corn; 3, wheat/soybean, and black oat pasture/soybean; 4, wheat/soybean, and field pea/corn; 5, wheat/soybean, common vetch/soybean, and double purpose triticale/soybean; and 6, wheat/soybean, double purpose white oat/soybean, and double purpose wheat/soybean. Corn showed highest returned energy in comparison to the other grain crops, and to winter and summer annual pastures. Of the winter cover crops and green manure species evaluated, field pea was the most efficient in energy conversion. Systems 1, 2, and 4, from 2003 to 2008, had the most efficient energy balance.