Population of maize plants intercropped with Urochloa ruziziensis

Abstract

The no-tillage system (NTS) is a sustainable technique that encourages the maintenance of crop residues on the soil surface. However, the straw produced by commercial crops is insufficient to keep the soil covered throughout the year. Thus, the intercropping of maize and Urochloa ruziziensis is a viable alternative that could increase the biomass production per area, and consequently the amount of straw, aiming the NTS. Identifying the correct density for intercropped maize plants is very important and can help to increase the accumulation of forage plants biomass, without negatively affecting maize grain yield. So, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of maize plants densities in the cropping performance, intercropped or not with U. ruziziensis. The experimental design was randomized complete blocks, in a 4x2 factorial scheme (maize plants populations x cropping systems - single and intercropped maize). Maize yield, yield components and forage biomass were evaluated. The maize grain yield was not affected by the intercropping with U. ruziziensis. Increasing maize plants densities (up to 80,000 plants ha^-1) provided a reduction in the number of ears plant^-1 and grains per ear row^-1, however, resulted in a higher grain yield. The forage biomass from U. ruziziensis intercropped off-season with maize decreased, while the maize plant density increased up to 80,000 plants ha^-1. In the absence of hidric restriction, the density of 80,000 maize plants ha^-1 is the recommended one.