COVER CROPS GROWTH IN COMPACTED SOIL

The aim of this study was to evaluate shoot and root development of three cover crop species in compacted soil. The experiment was conducted in pots fitted with rings of PVC pipe with 20 cm of internal diameter. Each pot was constituted by three rings. The extremities ring had 15 cm high and middle ring had 5 cm. At the intermediate ring the bulk density for 1.6 Kg dm-3 (compressed) or 1.1 Kg dm-3 (uncompressed) was adjusted. The pots were cultivated with the following cover crops: labe labe (Dolichos lab lab), sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L.) and Brachiaria ruziziensis. The study was carried out in a in a completely randomized design, with four replicates, in a 3x2 factorial arrangement (three species and two compaction levels). After 54 days of plant emergence, shoot and root dry matter were evaluated in each layer of the pots. The treatments were analyzed by analysis of variance and means compared by Tukey test at 5%. Soil compaction did not reduce shoot and root dry matter of cover crops. There was an increase in root growth of Brachiaria ruziziensis in the middle layer of the plot, in compacted soil. Sorghum and pasture were the species with the greatest potential for structuring compacted soil. Sorghum was the species with greater efficiency for root colonization in the lower layer of the plot, regardless of the presence or absence of middle layer compacted.