Understanding the contribution of soybean crop residues inoculated with Bradyrhizobium spp. and not harvested on nitrogen supply in off-season corn cultivars

Abstract

Excessive rainfall in the soybean preharvest period can make mechanized crop harvesting technically and economically unfeasible, causing 100% losses in soybean grain yield. An alternative to reduce the economic losses of farmers would be using unharvested soybean crop residues as a source of nitrogen (N) for the subsequent corn crop. However, a question that still needs to be understood is whether the amount of N released from unharvested soybean residues (straw and grains) is sufficient to meet all the nutritional demand for this nutrient in the off-season corn. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of unharvested soybean crop residue persistence on the yield response of off-season corn crop (Zea mays L.) to the application of N fertilizer rates when grown in tropical Cerrado soils of medium and high fertility. Four simple corn hybrids (SYN7G17 TL, 30F53VYHR, B2433PWU, and AG 8700 PRO3) were grown in soils of medium fertility and medium acidity level (UFMS 1) and high fertility and low acidity level (UFMS 2) and fertilized with five of N fertilizer rates (0, 40, 80, 120, and 160 kg ha–1 of N) applied at 30 days after emergence (DAE). Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was used to investigate the interrelationships between the groups of independent (agricultural production areas, corn cultivars, and N application rates) and dependent (corn agronomic traits) variables. Crop residues remaining on the soil surface from soybeans not harvested and inoculated with Bradyrhizobium spp. can supply most of the nitrogen requirement of off-season corn grown in succession, especially in tropical soils of medium fertility. However, in high-fertility tropical soils, the maximum grain yield potential of off-season corn cultivars can be obtained with the application of mineral N fertilizer in supplement the amount of nitrogen released from unharvested soybean residues. Therefore, the N requirement depends on the corn cultivar and the agricultural production area. However, our results show that when off-season corn is grown on unharvested soybean residues, nitrogen fertilization in topdressing can be dispensed. The agricultural area with high fertility soil (UFMS 2) enhances the grain yield of the off-season corn crop. The corn cultivar AG 8700 PRO3 has a higher thousand-grain mass and high grain yield potential under Brazilian Cerrado conditions.