Agronomic traits and grains losses in the corn mechanical harvesting as a function of cover crop management

Abstract

It is very important to know the types of cover crop managements before starting the deployment of the main crop, because these can influence the grain yield as well as the mechanical harvesting process, occurring losses that may reduce the profitability of the producer. This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic traits of corn and losses in mechanical harvesting of this crop, according to cover crop management. The experiment was conducted in Eutroferric Red Latosol, with corn crop planted on sorghum straw in no-tillage system, with row spacing of 0.90 m. We used a randomized blocks design, with three cover crop management (crimper-roller, mower-crusher and chemical), and 8 replications. The management type did not influence crop losses and variables related to agronomic traits of corn. The grain losses in mechanical corn harvesting showed below the levels considered acceptable for this crop.