The objective of this six-year study was to assess the soil tillage systems and crop rotation systems on soybean grain and yield components were evaluated at Embrapa Trigo in Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil. Four soil tillage systems - 1) no-tillage, 2) minimum tillage in winter and no-tillage in summer, 3) conventional tillage with disk plow in winter and no-tillage in summer, and 4) tillage using a moldboard plow in winter and no-tillage in summer - and three crop rotation systems [system I (wheat/soybean), system II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn or sorghum), and system III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn or sorghum and white oats/soybean)]. An experimental randomized blocks design, with split-plots and three replications, was used. The yield and weight of 1,000 kernels of soybean grown under no-tillage and minimum tillage was higher than soybean grown conventional soil tillage with disk plow and a moldboard plow. Plant height showed higher in the no-tillage. The yield of soybean grown after wheat, in system II, was higher than soybean grown after white oats and after wheat, in system III, and after wheat, in system I. The lowest soybean yield, grain weight/plant, and weight of 1,000 kernels was obtained in monoculture (wheat/soybean).
crop succession; conventional tillage; minimum tillage; no-tillage; yield components
