Agricultural management systems are needed to simultaneously enhance production, promote plant diversity, improve nutrient cycling and reduce soil compaction. We investigated the effects of intercropped forage grass on production of corn (Zea mays L.) harvested for silage at 0.20 and 0.45 m height in the summer, as well as on production of subsequent forage, soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] harvested for silage, nutrient cycling and soil responses on a Typic Haplorthox in Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. Palisade grass cv. BRS Piatã [Urochloa brizantha cv. BRS Piatã] was the introduced companion crop with corn (Years 1 and 2), while signal grass [Urochloa decumbens cv. Basilisk] was the residual weedy species in comparison. Guineagrass cv. Aruãna [Megathyrsus maximus cv. Aruãna] was the introduced companion crop with soybean (Year 3), with only a residual effect of crop systems from the previous two years. After the corn silage harvest, pasture was grazed by lambs in winter/spring using a semi-feedlot system. When cut at 0.45 m compared with 0.20 m height, corn intercropped with palisade grass had greater leaf nutrient concentration, improved agronomic characteristics, forage mass of pasture for grazing by lambs, greater surface mulch produced, and greater quantity of N, P and K returned to soil. Greater soil organic matter, P, K and Mg concentration, and base saturation in the surface soil depth and lower soil penetration resistance at all depths occurred at 0.45 m than at 0.20 m corn silage cutting height intercropped with palisade grass. Analyzing the system as a whole, harvesting corn silage crop with palisade grass intercrop at 0.45 m height was the most viable option in this integrated crop-livestock system.

Agricultural management systems are needed to simultaneously enhance production, and improve soil quality. We investigated the effects of intercropped grass on production of corn (Zea mays L.) harvested for silage at 0.20 and 0.45 m height in the summer, as well as on production of subsequent forage, silage soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and soil responses on a Typic Haplorthox in Botucatu, SP, Brazil. Palisade grass [Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R. Webster ‘Marandu’] was the introduced companion crop with corn (Years 1 and 2), while signal grass [Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R. Webster ‘Basilisk’] was the residual weedy species in comparison. Guinea grass [Urochloa maxima (Jacq.) R. Webster ‘Aruãna’] was the introduced companion crop with soybean (Year 3), with only a residual effect of crop systems from the previous 2 yr. When cut at 0.45 m compared with 0.20 m height, corn intercropped with palisade grass had greater leaf nutrient concentrations, agronomic characteristics, forage mass of pasture for grazing by lambs (Ovis aries), greater surface mulch produced, and greater quantity of N, P, and K returned to soil. Greater soil organic matter, P, K, and Mg concentration, and base saturation in the surface soil depth and lower soil penetration resistance at all depths occurred at 0.45 m than at 0.20 m corn silage cutting height intercropped with palisade grass. Analyzing the system as a whole, harvesting corn silage crop with palisade grass intercrop at 0.45 m height was the most viable option in this integrated crop–livestock system (ICLS).Core Ideas Agricultural management systems are needed to enhance production and improve soil quality. After corn silage harvest, pasture was grazed by lambs in winter/spring using a semi‐feedlot system. Harvesting corn silage crop with palisade grass intercrop at 0.45 m height was the most viable option.

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Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do manejo da adubação nitrogenada sobre a cultura do sorgo granífero, cultivado solteiro e em consócio com capim-marandu e capim-mombaça, e determinar a produtividade de matéria seca das forrageiras, nos anos agrícolas 2003/2004 e 2004/2005, em plantio direto. Foi utilizado o delineamento experimental em blocos ao acaso, em arranjo fatorial 3x5, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de três sistemas de cultivo de sorgo granífero (solteiro e consorciado com capim-marandu ou capim-mombaça, na linha de semeadura) e cinco manejos de adubação nitrogenada: 30-70; 70-30; 50-50; 100-0; e 0-100 kg ha -1 de N, quantidades aplicadas na semeadura e na cobertura, respectivamente. O cultivo consorciado não afetou a nutrição nem a produtividade de grãos de sorgo. Apenas no primeiro ano de cultivo, o parcelamento 50-50 kg ha -1 de N proporcionou maior produtividade de grãos. O manejo da palhada interferiu no estabelecimento do sorgo no segundo ano de cultivo, e diminuiu a produtividade de grãos. As maiores doses de N aplicadas em cobertura elevaram a produtividade de matéria seca do capim-marandu e, as aplicadas em semeadura, a elevaram no capim-mombaça.Termos para indexação: Panicum maximum, Urochloa brizantha, integração lavoura-pecuária, produtividade de grãos, teor foliar. Nitrogen fertilization on sorghum intercropped with grass in a no-tillage systemAbstract -The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen fertilization management on single and intercropped sorghum with Marandu and Mombaça grasses, and to determine the forage dry weight yield in the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005, in a no-tillage system. The experimental design was in randomized block, in a 3x5 factorial arrangement, with four replicates. The treatments consisted of three sorghum cropping systems (single and intercropped with Marandu and Mombaça grasses in the rows) and five nitrogen fertilizer managements: 30-70; 70-30; 50-50; 100-0; and 0-100 kg ha -1 of N, applied at sowing and topdressing, respectively. Intercropping did not affect sorghum nutrition nor grain yield. Only in the first growth season, the 50-50 kg ha -1 of N splitting increased grain yield. Straw management interfered in sorghum establishment during the second growth season and decreased grain yield. The highest rates of N topdressing increased forage dry weight yield of Marandu grass and, applied at sowing, N highest rates increased this attribute in Mombaça grass.Index terms: Panicum maximum, Urochloa brizantha, crop-livestock integration system, grain yield, leaf content. IntroduçãoEntre as tecnologias agrícolas para recuperação de áreas degradadas, a redução dos custos de produção e o uso intensivo da área, principalmente sob lavoura durante todo o ano, destaca-se a integração lavoura-pecuária em sistema plantio direto (SPD) (Macedo, 2009). No entanto, sua adoção é altamente dependente da produção de forragem na entressafra e da manutenção de palhada sobre a superfície do solo; atualmente, as culturas mais ...