Residual effect of intercropping and inoculation systems in common bean co-inoculated with growth-promoting bacteria

Abstract

The adoption of intercropping systems and inoculation technology with plant growth-promoting bacteria are sustainable, innovative, and low-cost strategies in tropical agriculture and provide positive improvements in soil attributes and greater accumulation of dry phytomass (straw), benefiting the crops in succession and providing favorable conditions for soil microbiota. The objective of this research will be to evaluate the residual effect of maize intercropping systems with cover crops and foliar inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense, on the growth and productivity of common bean plants co-inoculated with plant growth-promoting bacteria. The research will be carried out in the field from September to December 2021, in the municipality of Dracena, São Paulo, Brazil, in a typical sandy-textured Red Ultisol. The experimental design will be in randomized blocks arranged in a 4x2x2 factorial scheme for beans, with four replications. The treatments will consist of predecessor crops of single corn and intercropped with cover crops (Crotalaria spectabilis, Urochloa ruziziensis, and C. spectabilis + U. ruziziensis) in the presence and absence of foliar application (at phenological stage V4) of the inoculant containing Azospirillum brasilense and presence and absence of co-inoculation (Rhizobium tropici + Azospirillum brasilense) in common bean in succession irrigated by sprinkler, with four replications. Will be evaluated in the bean crop: plant population, plant dry matter, leaf nitrogen content, number of pods per plant, number of grains per plant, the average number of grains per pod, mass of one hundred grains, photosynthetically active radiation (RFA ), grain yield and cycle. In the statistical analysis of the variables evaluated, the data will be submitted to the evaluation of statistical assumptions and analysis of variance. To verify the isolated effects of intercropping, inoculation, and co-inoculation systems and the interaction between the factors, the means will be compared by Tukey's test, adopting a 5% significance level (p<0.05). (AU)