The lime application method is not well defined in the no-till system. A field experiment was conducted at the Embrapa Rice & Bean Research Center Experimental Station, Santo Antônio de Goiás state, in order to evaluate the effects of rates of lime applied on surface or mixed to the soil upon yield of irrigated bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and soybean (Glycine max (L.). Merrill). The soil of the experimental area was classified as Dystroferric Red Latosol (Oxisol), which had been cultivated during four years under no-till system. Three lime rates were used: 0, 1/3 and 3/3 to elevate base saturation to 60%. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replications and a scheme of subdivided parcels which varied with the evaluated characteristic. The experiment was conducted during two years and bean was planted after soybean in 1999 and 2001, and after rice in 2000. At November 2001, soybean was planted. At the end of the experiment, soil samples were collected at 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm depths for analyses. The liming dose calculated to elevate base saturation to 60%, independently of the application method (superficial or mixed to the soil), increases pH, Ca and Mg levels at both 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths, after 24 months of liming application. The acidity correction by liming is accentuated at the 0-10 cm depth, independently of the lime application method. The liming application significantly increases grain yield of irrigated common beans as well as the subsequent soybean crop due to its residual effect.
no-till system; liming; soil acidity
