Cover crop and early nitrogen management for common bean in a tropical no-till system

Author(s)

Momesso, Letusa ^[1] ; Crusciol, Carlos Alexandre Costa ^[1] ; Soratto, Rogerio Peres ^[1] ; Tanaka, Katiuca Sueko ^[1] ; Costa, Claudio Hideo Martins ^[2] ; Bastos, Leonardo Mendes ^[3] ; Ciampitti, Ignacio Antonio ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Fac Agron Sci, Dept Crop Sci, Botucatu, SP - Brazil

^[2] Fed Univ Jatai UFJ, Jatai, Go - Brazil

^[3] Kansas State Univ, Dept Agron, Manhattan, KS 66506 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: AGRONOMY JOURNAL; v. 113, n. 6 OCT 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has been grown under no-till (NT), but nitrogen (N) management remains unclear when a previous cover crop is part of the farming system. In this study, we hypothesized that N applied to living cover crops, preceding the main grain crop of the rotation, can increase productivity and N-use efficiency of the grain crop. Common bean was grown after palisade grass {[}Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster] and ruzigrass {[}Urochloa ruziziensis (R. Germ. and C.M. Evrard) Crins] cover crops combined with N management {[}application to living cover crops 35 days before common bean seeding (DBS), 1 DBS, conventional, and control (zero-N application)] in four experiment-years. Dry matter (DM) and N content for palisade grass was consistently greater at termination relative to ruzigrass. Nitrogen application 35 DBS increased cover crop DM, N content, and the decomposition rate relative to the other N treatments. Greater common bean yield occurred following palisade grass than ruzigrass, and N application 35 DBS increased common bean yield compared to 1 DBS and conventional in one out of four experiment-years. Only minor differences in the agronomic efficiency (AE) of applied N to cover crops were detected between 35 DBS and 1 DBS, and only for one experiment-year, when palisade grass resulted in greater AE than ruzigrass. Applying N early to living crops such as palisade grass is an alternative N management strategy to the traditional approach for N fertilization in common bean. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/20199-1 - Antecipation of nitrogen for common bean crop in succession to Urochloa brizantha and Urochloa ruziziensis in the no tillage system
• Grantee: Felipe de Andrade Faleco
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation