Influência de diferentes plantas de cobertura em alguns componentes e na produtividade final de grãos de milho (Zea mays)

Abstract

The present work aims to evaluate the use of different cover crops in winter, grown singly or in intercropping, and their relationship with the components of corn productivity. The experiment was conducted in the experimental area of ​​the Federal University of Santa Maria - Frederico Westphalen campus. The corn crop was implanted in succession on the already managed and desiccated straw of cover crops. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, consisting of seven treatments: T1 - black oat; T2 - rye, black oats, radish and white oats; T3 - fodder pea, rye, white oat, fodder turnip; T4 - white oats, black oats, vetch and rye; T5 - white oats, rye, vetch and forage radish; T6 - fodder turnip; T7 - vetch. The variables evaluated were yield, ear weight, number of rows per ear, number of grains per ear, grain weight per ear and the weight of one thousand grains of the subsequent crop (corn). For productivity, T7, composed of single vetch, presented the best performance with 6,486 kg ha-1. For ear weight, T7, T5 and T6 were superior to the other treatments with results of 0.150 kg, 0.140 kg and 0.137 kg, respectively. For the variable number of rows per ear, the treatments did not differ statistically from each other, showing results close to 16 rows/ear. Regarding the number of grains per ear, T7 obtained the highest result (493 grains/ear), statistically differing from the other treatments. In the variable weight of grains per ear, T7, T5 and T6 obtained a higher result in relation to the others (0.128 kg, 0.121 kg, 0.117 kg, respectively), and for the variable weight of a thousand grains, treatments T5, T1, T7 and T6 stood out (0.243 kg, 0.233 kg, 0.231 kg and 0.231 kg, respectively). Therefore, it can be highlighted that the use, mainly of vetch preceding corn, in addition to the use of cover crops that are not grasses, showed a greater gain in productivity and other yield components.