The use of cover crops and the adoption of no-tillage are essential
conservation practices to increase carbon and nitrogen stocks and
increase soil microbial activity. However, in lowland areas cultivated
with irrigated rice, there is a large gap on the effects of no-tillage
with long-term cover crops on soil attributes, crop responses and the
effect of the system fertilization. The aim of this work was to evaluate
the long-term adoption of cover crops on soil microbial activity, soil
carbon stock and on the response of irrigated rice to system
fertilization. Treatments consisted of fallow-conventional, fallow-no
tillage, Annual Ryegrass, Oat, Ornithphus micranthus and Lotus
cornicultaus. In the sub-plots, system and conventional fertilization
per crop were compared. The experiment was conducted in southern Brazil
in an Entisol and started in the 1996/97 crop season. Cover crops
associated with the use of no-tillage increases basal respiration (+
31%) of the soil, β-glucosidase activity (+ 259%), and soil carbon and
nitrogen stocks. Urease activity increased by an average of 41% in
no-tillage under cover crops compared to the conventional system under
fallow, with the exception of ryegrass. System fertilization promoted
higher dry matter production (+ 130%) in grasses and a lower increase
(+ 23%) in winter legumes. The use of long-term cover crops promoted
higher rice productivity (+ 9%). In this way, the association of cover
crops and no-tillage increases carbon and nitrogen stocks, the
biological activity of the soil and makes possible the system
fertilization in lowlands, with positive effects on productivity.