Economic alternatives to compose production systems are essential to the sustainability of farming systems, livestock or integrated systems. The objective was to evaluate the viability of intercropping grain crops, soybean and maize, with Urochloa brizantha and Panicum maximum in northern of Rio Grande do Sul. The forages were sown simultaneously with grain crops, in the inter-line, and in monoculture. We used 'Marandu' (brachiaria), 'Mombaça' and 'Aruana' (panicum) and millet (Pennisetum americanum) as a control. Crop yield and their components and accumulation of dry matter (DM) were evaluated. The DM accumulation of 'Aruana' and 'Mombaça' single pasture was higher than the others, with average accumulation of 6.515 and 5.778kg ha-1, respectively. Intercropped with maize the average accumulation of dry matter was 2.380kg ha-1, without significant differences between species, but with the greatest accumulation occurred in soybeans for 'Marandu' (3.040kg ha-1). There was no decrease in soybean and maize yield in presence of forages, but for mechanical harvesting of soybean further investigation will be required. The intercropping between maize and tropical perennial forages is a viable alternative to the northern of RS.
cover crops; crop-livestock system; autumn forage fall shortage
