Chemical attributes of soil under organic production as affected by cover crops and soil tillage

This study aimed to determine the influence of the cover crops sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp), velvet bean (Mucuna aterrima), sorghum (Sorgum technicum), and fallow on chemical attributes of soil cultivated with organic common bean and corn, under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems. The work was conducted in Santo Antonio de Goias-GO, in Oxisol, in a randomized block design, with four replications. In November 2003 four experiments were installed, two of them under NT and the other two in CT. In each soil management system, an experiment was carried out with common bean crop and another with corn. Samples were taken from soil layers of 0-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m in September 2003 and in November 2007. The soil pH and the contents of P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Fe3+, Mn2+, H+ + Al3+, and soil organic matter were analyzed, and cation exchange capacity and base saturation were calculated. After four years, cover crops did not differ in their effects on soil chemical attributes, however, they increased the content of organic matter in relation to initial condition, under NT or in CT. In general, the nutrient recycling by cover crops was not sufficient to maintain the P, K+, Fe3+ and Mn2+ contents in the soil.