Abstract Regenerative agricultural systems have been successfully implemented for vegetable cultivation, increasing food quality and productivity. However, the increasing use of bioinputs and the expansion of production to new locations require a greater understanding of the interaction between cultivation techniques and the environment. Thus, this study aimed to verify the combined effects of soil cover and Azospirillum brasilense inoculation on the growth and yield of onions ( Allium cepa L.) in a no‐tillage system with different soil covers. The treatments consisted of different soil covers (control—without straw; spontaneous plants; millet Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.; crotalaria ( Crotalaria juncea L.); mix—millet + crotalaria), combined or not with foliar application of A. brasilense . The growth characteristics of the plants, as well as productivity components related to the bulbs, were evaluated. It was found that cultivation on the covers of cultivated plants, especially when combined with the application of A. brasilense , resulted in significant gains in plant growth, increasing the weight of the bulb by approximately five times. It was concluded that the use of plant covers on the soil, mainly of planted species, such as millet and crotalaria, in addition to their joint cultivation in the form of a mix, results in significant gains in the development of onion plants, which can be optimized by the application of A. brasilense in the form of foliar spraying.
Sant'Ana et al. (Thu,) studied this question.