Both soil conservation and crop productivity may negatively be affected by changes caused to soil characteristics by management techniques. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of soil tillage on soil physical attributes and organic carbon contents. The experiment was carried out over a period of 17 years in Eldorado do Sul County (RS) in a loamy Acrisol under different management systems: conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no-tillage, using vetch-maize in crop succession. An area of native […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of soil tillage systems and methods of lime application on biological, physical and chemical attributes of a clayey aluminic Oxisol, and on soybean yield components. The experiment with tillage systems was installed in 1978 in Guarapuava, PR, southern Brazil, and liming methods began to be tested in 1987. The treatments were: conventional tillage (CT) without liming; CT with liming; no-tillage (NT) without liming; NT with surface liming and NT […]

This study was carried out from 1994 to 1998 in the Agronomy experimental area at the University of Cruz Alta – UNICRUZ, Cruz Alta, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil to evaluate the influence of five soil management systems on bulk density, porous space (total porosity, macro and microporosity) of an clayey Rhodic Hapludox, as well as their effect on soybean, wheat and corn yield. The experiment had a completely randomized block design with four replications. The following management […]

Nitrogen (N) is the nutrient taken up in the largest quantity by corn and it has the greatest effect on grain yield. Its dynamics in the soil-plant system is influenced by the management. The aim of this study was to evaluate nitrogen rates and application times in corn in a recently implanted no-tillage system. This study was conducted at the Experimental Station of UNESP/FEIS – Ilha Solteira campus in Selvíria, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, during the growth […]

Soil management influences surface cover and roughness, and it is the major factor that affects water erosion. A rotating-boom rainfall simulator operated at a constant rainfall intensity of 64 mm h-1 and 0.2083 MJ ha-1 mm-1 kinetic energy was used to investigate water erosion and related parameters in six management systems of corn and bean crops. The experiments were carried out on a clayey loam structured soil (Hapludox) with 0.165 m m-1 average slope, on the Southern Plateau of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, from March […]

In the clay and heavy clay soils, compaction of the surface layer represents one of the limitations under no-tillage. Under such conditions, periodic soil tillage has been adopted. Other techniques, such as crop rotation are indicated for the physical management of the soil due to a larger input of organic matter and bioporosity of the soil. The objective of this study was to quantify some soil physical properties in an eutroferric Red Latosol (rhodic Eutrudox), the organic carbon content and […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate alterations in the physical soil quality of a Dystroferric Red Latosol (Typic Haplorthox) caused by chiseling, after thirteen years of no-tillage. The experiment consisted of two management systems: soil chiseling down to a 0.30 m depth (NTC) and no-tillage (NT). Undisturbed soil samples were collected at depths of 0-0.15 m and 0.15-0.30 m, and the soil water retention curve, the soil resistance to penetration curve, the soil bulk density, and the “Least […]

Root growth is affected by mechanical soil resistance and affects the crop yield potential. This study evaluated the soil penetration resistance on a clayey Oxisol under distinct no-tillage cropping systems. The experiment was carried out at the technological field of Cotrijui in southern Brazil. The soil was a Haplorthox with a clay content of 0.68 kg kg-1 and it has been under four no-tillage cropping systems: succession soybean/wheat; corn/black oat/corn + velvet bean/wheat/soybean/wheat; velvet bean/wheat/soybean/ wheat/soybean/black oat; and crotalaria/wheat/soybean/black oat/corn/wheat. […]

The efficacy of no-tillage systems in reducing water erosion depends largely on the soil cover by crop residues. The study was carried out in Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil, from August 2001 to July 2002, aiming to evaluate the decay of corn residue on the surface of an Inseptisol and its influence on soil properties. The treatments, with three replicates, were: bare soil (BS), 8.77 Mg ha-1 of air dried corn residue (CR) and 8.77 Mg ha-1 of air dried corn residue plus 100 kg ha-1 […]

Cover plants have received extra attention due to their release of low molecular weight organic acids that form organic complexes with aluminum, calcium and magnesium. Besides neutralizing toxic aluminum, such compounds can increase the mobility in the soil profile of the dissolution products of lime applied on the soil surface. Objectives of this research were (a) to identify the low molecular weight organic acids found in different cover plant species and in soil solution, (b) to evaluate the effects of […]