No-till cabbage production in different cover crops and phosphorus sources in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

No-till planting and the use of organomineral fertilizers are crop management practices that increase soil organic matter, thereby mitigating leaching and cycling a considerable amount of nutrients, with the potential to improve crop yield. This study aimed to assess the agronomic performance of cabbage grown under a no-till system, using different cover crops and phosphorus sources. A randomized block design was used, with the main plot consisting of eight split plots for different cover crop treatments: 1) Signal grass (SG); 2) Sunn hemp (SH); 3) Pearl millet (PM); 4) SG+SH; 5) SG+PM; 6) SH+PM; 7) SG+SH+PM; 8) conventional tillage (soil preparation with no cover crop), and phosphorus (P) sources in the sub-plots: 1) mineral fertilizer (FM); 2) organomineral fertilizer (OF); 3) no P, with four repetitions. The following characteristics were assessed: cover crop fresh (FW) and dry weight (DW) (t/ha), residue decomposition and nutrient cycling; and cabbage head FW and DW (HFW and HDW) (g/plant) and yield (YLD) (t/ha). The highest FW and DW were recorded in the intercropped cover plant treatments; PM+SH and SG+SH residue exhibited the highest decomposition rate and P cycling into the soil. The highest cabbage HFW and YLD occurred in the SG+SH treatment, regardless of the fertilizer used. The MF used as P source produced a greater cabbage YLD when grown in PM residue. Under conventional tillage, YLD was higher when OF was used as P source.