The stalk rot (SR) and grain rot (GR) occur in crops as corn, causing losses to farmers and contaminating the grain with mycotoxins. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of corn monoculture, crop rotation with common bean, and nitrogen fertilization on the incidence of SR, GR, fumonisin levels, weight of thousand seeds (WTS) and grain yield. The experiment was randomized blocks with split plot and four replicates per treatment. In the main plot were tested three maize hybrids: P30F36, AS 1575 and Maximus. In the sub-plots, each of the hybrids was evaluated in five levels of nitrogen (N), equivalent to 0; 75; 140; 215 and 290kg of N ha-1 in both cropping systems. There were no significant differences for mean values of SR, Fumonisin and grain yield in both cropping systems evaluated. For GR and WTS average values had differences between hybrids only when corn was grown in crop rotation with common bean. The annual growth rate of SR and GR parameters in corn monoculture ranged from 44.8 to 172.4 %, above the rate found on corn when grown in crop rotation. In turn, mean changes of WTS and grain yield was 1.2 to 17.6 % higher when in rotation compared to monoculture cropping system. The differences found in nitrogen rates partly explained the changes observed in all variables.
mycotoxins; nitrogen fertilization; crop rotation; monoculture
