The use of pig slurry before implanting cover crops in the fall/winter is becoming a common practice in southern Brazil, although its effects on crops and soil are still poorly investigated. The objective of the present study was to analyze the dynamics of soil N as well as to study the cover crop yields under use of pig slurry in the fall/winter. The study was developed in the growing season 2000 on an experimental area of the Soils Department of UFSM, RS. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design with split-plots and three replications. The main plots had black oat, black oat (30 %) + common vetch (70 %) mixture and spontaneous vegetation of the area (fallow). Four pig slurry rates (0, 20, 40 and 80 m³ ha-1) were applied on the split-plots. The mineral N contents (N-NH4+ and N-NO2- + N-NO3-) were evaluated at seven dates in the layers of 0-5, 5-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm depth. The dry matter production and N, P and K concentration of cover crops and spontaneous vegetation were evaluated. Mineral soil N increased with liquid manure application, with similar N dynamics when applied on residues of oat/corn or on weeds/corn residues. After application of 80 m³ ha-1 there was evidence of N-NO3- leaching to depths below 60 cm, higher in weeds/corn system than oat/corn crop system. Dry matter production as well as the content of N, P and K in cover crops increased with the use of slurry. For single oat the increase of dry matter production with a slurry dose of 40 was 2.7 mg ha-1 compared to no-slurry treatment. In the oat + vetch mixture the increased slurry amount stimulated the development of oat in detriment of vetch and the dry matter production and N added were most in balance at a slurry rate of 20 m³ ha-1.This study demonstrates the efficiency of fall/winter cover crops in nutrient cycling trough application of pig slurry and shows the importance of using species with high dry matter production and N demand.
nutrient cycling; N-NO3- leaching; no-tillage; Avena strigosa; Vicia sativa
