Soil preparation and nitrogen fertilization in corn production and nutrients accumulation

Abstract

The effects of soil preparation and doses of nitrogen on grain and straw dry matter production and N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and Zn accumulation by corn plants (Zea mays L.) cultivated under irrigation were evaluated in a field experiment in a Dark Red Latosol (Oxisol), originally under cerrado vegetation, at Embrapa-Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Milho e Sorgo experimental station, in Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, from November, 1995 to June, 1996. The soil preparation systems studied were: no till, conventional till with disk plow and conventional till with moldboard plow. The nitrogen doses were: 0, 60, 120 and 240 kg ha^-1 N, applied in cover. The highest productions of grains and straw dry matter and nutrients accumulation were obtained in the no till system. In the doses of 60 kg ha^-1 N, the greatest efficiency and the highest recover of applied N by the crop occurred.