Soil shading using mulch reduces weed seed germination and, consequently, weed population, allowing the plant of interest to develop free of the initial competition. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of leguminous plant cultivation on the evolution of a weed community on green corn cultivated in succession under an organic system. The trial was conducted with leguminous plants during the 2007/2008 season, at the Embrapa Corn and Sorghum Field Center in Sete Lagoas-MG. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized block design with split-plots and four replications, with five species of leguminous plants being evaluated: jack bean (Canavalia ensiformes), pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), mucuna-black (Mucuna aterrinum), mucuna dwarf (Mucuna deeringiana) and Crotalaria juncea, plus a control, spontaneous vegetation of the area. On February/2008, the leguminous plants were cut close to soil and corn was planted over this mulch on March/06/2009. Weed samplings were collected at 15 and 30 days after corn emergence, which was randomly thrown on each plot framework, measuring 50 x 50 cm.. The weed plants within the framework were identified, weighed and counted. The results obtained showed that Mucuna aterrinum and Crotalaria juncea cover provided further weed biomass reduction during the two seasons evaluated. Higher commercial green corn ear yield was obtained when soil cover using Mucuna aterrinum and Crotalaria juncea straw was adopted.
green cover; mulch; soil cover crops; cultural management; Zea mays
