Soil cover with Brachiaria and emergence of Cerrado tree species, annual crops and spontaneous plants

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different amounts of straw on the seed
emergence capacity of 10 plant species, among cerrado trees, annual and spontaneous plants.
The experiment was carried out from September to November 2011. The experimental design
was a randomized block design, with six treatments in five replications. The treatments were: 0,
5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 tons of Brachiaria straw per hectare. The fresh mass of the spontaneous
plants was evaluated at the end of the experimental period. It was observed that a layer of
straw of 5 t.ha-1 significantly decreased the emergence and the fresh mass of spontaneous
plants. Maize, beans, Hymenaea courbaril and Dipteryx alata were not affected by the increasing
amount of straw. It was observed that 5 t.ha-1 of straw has advantages in the suppression
of spontaneous plants without significantly affecting the emergence of arboreal species.