Agronomic performance of maize grown under green manure and organic compost application

Moura, M. F.; Souza, B. M.; Andrade, M. F.; Siqueira, T. S.; Oliveira, J. P. F.; Simplício, J. B.; Tabosa, J. N.; Silva, A. H.; França, J. G. E.

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.297563

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Original Article • Braz. J. Biol. 85 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.297563 linkcopy

Agronomic performance of maize grown under green manure and organic compost application

Comportamento agronômico do milho cultivado sob adubação verde e composto orgânico

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the main commodities in Brazilian agribusiness and is considered the most widely cultivated crop in the world. By 2050, maize production must increase by approximately 70% to meet global demand. However, achieving high yields requires the application of large amounts of chemical fertilizers, which can be harmful to agroecosystems. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance of maize, as well as the levels of soil organic matter and total organic carbon, as a function of organic matter application through green manure and organic compost. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design, in a split-plot scheme [(3 x 3) + 1], with three leguminous species in the main plots (sunn hemp, pigeon pea and cowpea), three rates of organic compost in the subplots (0, 20, and 40 t ha⁻¹), and one additional control (chemical fertilization). Agronomic parameters of maize and soil organic matter and total organic carbon contents were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and means were compared using the Tukey test at a 5% probability level. The highest yield was obtained in the intercropping system with cowpea and 40 t ha⁻¹ of organic compost, reaching a grain yield of 17.7 t ha⁻¹. This represented an increase of over 20% compared to the same legume treatment without organic compost. Green manure combined with organic compost can replace chemical fertilization without compromising maize productivity. Organic compost associated with cowpea green manure provided higher maize yield compared to sunn hemp and dwarf pigeon pea. Soil organic matter and total organic carbon contents were not influenced by the green manure management combined with organic compost. Principal component analysis showed that maize yield parameters were more closely associated with the use of pigeon pea combined with 20 and 40 t ha⁻¹ of organic compost, respectively.

Keywords:
cover crops; yield components; growth; Zea mays L

VAR	0			20			40			CV
VAR	CROT	GUAD	MAC	CROT	GUAD	MAC	CROT	GUAD	MAC	(%)
CL a	43.87 Aa	44.07 Aa	43.84 Aa	42.73 Aa	44.12 Aa	43.96 Aa	43.14 Aa	43.90 Aa	44.07 Aa	2.01
CL b	20.67 Aa	22.50 Aa	21.03 Aa	20.10 Aa	20.65 Aa	21.22 Aa	22.05 Aa	19.49 Aa	22.69 Aa	6.64
CL T	64.54 Aa	66.57 Aa	64.87 Aa	62.83 Aa	64.77 Aa	65.18 Aa	65.19 Aa	63.39 Aa	66.76 Aa	2.93
R a/b	2.13 Aa	1.96 Aa	2.09 Aa	2.13 Aa	2.14 Aa	2.07 Aa	1.97 Ab	2.26 Aa	1.94 Ab	5.84
N	27.2 Aa	27.57 Aa	26.30 Aa	26.83 Aa	26.83 Aa	27.80 Aa	28.53 Aa	25.70 Aa	27.47 Aa	4.86
CP	170.0 Aa	167.8 Aa	164.4 Aa	167.6 Aa	169.7 Aa	173.5 Aa	178.3 Aa	161.1 Aa	171.7 Aa	4.49
PH	2.31 Aa	2.38 Aa	2.41 Aa	2.33 Aa	2.45 Aa	2.47 Aa	2.40 Aa	2.38 Aa	2.46 Aa	4.51
SD	24.48 Aa	23.70 Aa	24.33 Aa	25.93 Aa	25.86 Aa	25.65 Aa	25.49 Aa	25.31 Aa	25.74 Aa	5.14
LA	5945.7 Aa	5698.7 Aa	5319.7Ba	5875.2 Aa	6141.7 Aa	7013.6 Aa	6252.3 Aab	5122.9 Ab	6626.9 Aa	9.17
DM	15.52Aa	15.91Aa	14.06Ab	15.20Aa	17.51Aa	16.34 Aab	15.76 Aa	15.12Aa	17.74Aa	9.45
EIH	110.2 Aa	115.7 Aa	123 Aa	112.4 Aa	113.9 Aa	127.4 Aa	121.2 Aa	113.8 Aa	123.9 Aa	8.99
NE/P	1.46 Aa	1.51 Aa	1.33 Aa	1.51 ABa	1.76 Aa	1.47 Ba	1.5 Aa	1.5 Aa	1.63 Aa	8.65
EL	20.08 Aa	19.95 Aa	19.69 Aa	20.41 Aa	20.35 Aa	20.26 Aa	22.91 Aa	20.45 Aa	20.98 Aa	7.17
ED	50.93 Ab	52.27 Aa	51.04 Aa	51.28 Ab	51.19 Aa	51.42 Aa	54.31 Aa	51.20 Ba	51.30 Ba	2.60
NGR	14.6 Aa	15.1 Aa	13.3 Aa	15.1 Aa	17.6 Aa	14.7 Aa	15 Aa	15 Aa	16.3 Aa	3.59
NG/R	33.73 Aa	34.77 Aa	34.02 Aa	34.19 Aa	35.62 Aa	35.53 Aa	34.45 Aa	34.94 Aa	36.38 Aa	4.42
NG/E	506.4 Aa	504.9 Aa	498.8 Aa	499.4 Aa	500.6 Aa	523.7 Aa	527.2 Aa	525.0 Aa	515.9 Aa	4.64
TGW	360.8 Aa	366.4 Aa	372.1 Aa	397.8 Aa	391.2 Aa	368.1 Aa	380.6 Aa	367.0 Aa	408.1 Aa	5.87
GY	15.5 ABa	15.9 Aa	14.1 Bb	15 Ba	17.5 Aa	16.3 ABa	15.8 ABa	15.1 Ba	17.7 Aa	8.88
TOC	9.90 Aa	10.66 Aa	12.19 Aa	9.41 Aa	11.44 Aa	14.34 Aa	11.03 Aa	13.49 Aa	15.43 Aa	27.56
S.O.M	17.07 Aa	18.38 Aa	19.01 Aa	16.22 Aa	19.72 Aa	24.72 Aa	21.01 Aa	23.26 Aa	26.60 Aa	27.56

TRAT	CL a	CL b	CL T	R a/b	N	CP
MINERAL	45.36	21.76	68.61	2.09	27.55	172.30
CROT+D 0	43.87 ^ns	20.67 ^ns	67.54 ^ns	2.13 ^ns	27.20 ^ns	170.00 ^ns
CROT+D 20	42.73*	20.10 ^ns	66.83 ^ns	2.13 ^ns	26.83 ^ns	167.63 ^ns
CROT+D 40	43.14 ns	22.05 ^ns	70.19 ^ns	1.97 ^ns	28.53 ^ns	178.33 ^ns
GUAD+D 0	44.07 ^ns	22.50 ^ns	69.57 ^ns	1.96 ^ns	27.57 ^ns	167.87 ^ns
GUAD+D 20	44.62 ^ns	21.01 ^ns	69.13 ^ns	2.13 ^ns	26.90 ^ns	171.35 ^ns
GUAD+D 40	43.51 ^ns	19.73 ^ns	67.74 ^ns	2.21 ^ns	27.30 ^ns	171.30 ^ns
MAC+D 0	43.73 ^ns	20.75 ^ns	66.98 ^ns	2.12 ^ns	26.65 ^ns	166.65 ^ns
MAC+D 20	43.37 ^ns	21.04 ^ns	67.90 ^ns	2.06 ^ns	28.10 ^ns	175.50 ^ns
MAC+D 40	43.82 ^ns	22.63 ^ns	70.94 ^ns	1.94 ^ns	27.90 ^ns	174.50 ^ns
LSD	2.15	3.43	4.91	0.29	3.21	18.52

TRAT	PH	SD	DM	LA	EIH	NE/P	EL	ED
MINERAL	2.42	27.57	21.08	7194.2	120.5	1.53	21.68	52.32
CROT+D0	2.31^ns	24.48 ns	15.52 ^ns	5945.7 ^ns	110.2^ns	1.46 ^ns	20.08 ^ns	50.93 ^ns
CROT+D 20	2.33 ^ns	25.93 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	5875.2 ^ns	112.4 ^ns	1.51 ^ns	20.41 ^ns	51.29 ^ns
CROT+D 40	2.40 ^ns	25.49 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	6252.3 ^ns	121.2 ^ns	1.50 ^ns	22.91 ^ns	54.31 ^ns
GUAD+D 0	2.38 ^ns	23.70*	15.52 ^ns	5698.7 ^ns	115.7 ^ns	1.51 ^ns	19.95 ^ns	52.27 ^ns
GUAD+D 20	2.45 ^ns	25.86 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	6141.7 ^ns	113.9 ^ns	1.76 ^ns	20.35 ^ns	51.20 ^ns
GUAD+D 40	2.38 ^ns	25.31 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	5122.9 ^ns	113.8 ^ns	1.50 ^ns	20.45 ^ns	51.20 ^ns
MAC+D 0	2.41 ^ns	24.33*	15.52 ^ns	5319.7 ^ns	123.0 ^ns	1.33 ^ns	19.69 ^ns	51.04 ^ns
MAC+D 20	2.47 ^ns	25.65 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	7013.6 ^ns	127.4 ^ns	1.47 ^ns	20.26 ^ns	51.43 ^ns
MAC+D 40	2.46 ^ns	25.74 ^ns	15.52 ^ns	6626.9 ^ns	123.9 ^ns	1.63 ^ns	20.98 ^ns	51.30 ^ns
LSD	0.263	3.17	71.92	1365.1	25.85	0.32	3.60	3.26

TRAT	NGR	NG/E	NG/R	TGW	GY	TOC	S.O.M.
MINERAL	15.27	535.60	35.07	410.77	17.8	12.81	22.09
CROT+D 0	15.07 ^ns	506.47 ^ns	33.73 ^ns	360.80 ^ns	15.5 ^ns	9.90 ^ns	17.07 ^ns
CROT+D 20	14.63 ^ns	499.49 ^ns	34.19 ^ns	397.83 ^ns	15.2 ^ns	9.41 ^ns	16.22 ^ns
CROT+D 40	15.27 ^ns	527.28 ns	34.45 ^ns	380.67 ^ns	15.8 ^ns	11.03 ^ns	19.01 ^ns
GUAD+D 0	14.47 ^ns	504.93 ^ns	34.77 ^ns	366.43 ^ns	15.9 ^ns	10.66 ^ns	18.38 ^ns
GUAD+D 20	14.24 ^ns	500.67 ^ns	35.62 ^ns	391.23 ^ns	17.5 ^ns	13.75 ^ns	23.70 ^ns
GUAD+D 40	15.07 ^ns	525.03 ^ns	34.94 ^ns	367.07 ^ns	15.1 ^ns	14.85 ^ns	25.60 ^ns
MAC+D 0	14.67 ^ns	498.87 ^ns	34.02 ^ns	372.17 ^ns	14.1*	11.11 ^ns	19.15 ^ns
MAC+D 20	14.87 ^ns	523.77 ^ns	35.53 ^ns	368.17 ^ns	16.3 ^ns	13.11 ^ns	22.61 ^ns
MAC+D 40	14.27 ^ns	515.90 ^ns	36.38 ^ns	408.17 ^ns	17.7 ^ns	15.94 ^ns	27.48 ^ns
DMS	1.29	57.98	3.74	54.57	3.5	8.11	13.98

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[1] Means followed by the same uppercase letter within rows do not differ statistically from each other when comparing legume species within each compost dose. Means followed by the same lowercase letter within rows do not differ statistically from each other when comparing compost doses within each legume species, according to Tukey’s test at a 5% probability level. Abbreviations: VAR (variable); CROT (sunn hemp - Crotalaria juncea), GUAD (dwarf pigeon pea - Cajanus cajan), MAC (cowpea - Vigna unguiculata); CL a (chlorophyll a); CL b (chlorophyll b); CL T (total chlorophyll); Rz a/b (chlorophyll a/b ratio); N - nitrogen content (g kg⁻¹); CP - crude protein (g kg⁻¹); PH - plant height (m); MD - dry matter (ton/ha); SD - stem diameter (mm); LA - leaf area (cm²); EIH - insertion height of first ear (cm); NE/P - number of ears per plant; EL - ear length (cm); ED - average ear diameter (mm); NGR - number of grain rows; NG/R - number of grains per row; NG/E - number of grains per ear; TGW - weight of 1000 grains (g); GY - grain yield (t ha⁻¹); TOC - total organic carbon (g kg⁻¹ soil); S.O.M. - soil organic matter (g kg⁻¹ soil); CV - Coefficient of Variation. Source: Authors, 2025.