The no-tillage system is an important technique for maintaining and restoring the productive capacity of conventionally managed soils and degraded areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the production of soy and maize grown on the straw of five cover crops and on spontaneous vegetation. The experiments were carried out in Votuporanga, in the state of São Paulo and in Selvíria, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in March 2008, after conventional soil preparation. The experimental design was of randomised blocks with four replications, using the following cover crops in different amounts of seed per hectare, to make up the treatments: Sorghum bicolor -6, 7 and 8 kg ha-1; Pennisetum americanum - 10, 15 and 20 kg ha-1; Sorghum sudanense - 12, 15 and 18 kg ha-1; S. bicolorand S. sudanense hybrid - 8, 9 and 10 kg ha-1; and Urochloa ruziziensis - 8, 12 and 16 kg ha-1. A control treatment with spontaneous vegetation was also used. After management of the cover crops, soy was planted in the first year of the study, and maize sown in the second, both under a no-tillage system. The dry matter accumulated by the different cover crops, and the agronomic characteristics of the soy and maize were all evaluated. It was concluded that the different cover plants proved to be good options for preceding the soy crop in Votuporanga, SP and the maize in Selvíria, MS, and that the different amounts of seed used for each cover crop resulted in differences in relation to the agronomic characteristics of the crops of soy and maize.
Soybean; Corn; No-tillage; Dry matter