The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of weeds, nutritional state and yield of maize - B. brizantha intercrop under different layouts of Brachiaria pasture sowing treated with the herbicide mixture nicosulfuron + atrazine and atrazine. In the plots, the treatments consisted in maize and B. brizantha sowing in single crops, besides four forms of establishing B. brizantha by sowing one and two rows of B. brizantha in-between the maize rows; sowing along the same row as maize; and sowing the forage scattered in-between the maize rows. In the subplots, the two secondary treatments consisted in using the herbicide mixture nicosulfuron + atrazine (8 + 1,500 g ha-1) and atrazine (1,500 g ha-1) applied 30 days after emergence (DAE). Dry biomass of the macronutrient levels, grain yield and the weight of a thousand maize kernels, as well as the total dry matter yield and macronutrients accumulated by the pasture were evaluated. The weed species Brachiaria plantaginea, Brachiaria decumbens, and Sorghum arundinaceum were controlled by the mixture nicosulfuron + atrazine; the species Digitaria horizontalis, Cyperus rotundus, and Artemisia verlotorum were not controlled by the herbicide mixture. Lower levels of total chlorophyll and N leaf contents in maize were observed when two rows of B. brizantha were cultivated in-between the maize rows. When the herbicide mixture nicosulfuron + atrazine was used, highest levels of total chlorophyll, N, P, and K, grain yield, and weight of a thousand kernels were observed in maize compared to the treatments without product application. When two rows of B. brizantha were cultivated in-between the maize rows, a greater occupation of soil by the cultivated species, greater yield forage and greater amount of nutrients incorporated of this biomass were observed, without significantly affecting maize yield grain.
crop-livestock integration; nicosulfuron; atrazine
