ABSTRACT The sugarcane green harvest system, characterized by mechanized harvesting and the absence of crop burning, affects soil quality by increasing crop residue on the soil surface after harvest; thus, it contributes to improving the physical, chemical, and microbiological properties and influences the soil carbon content and CO2 flux (FCO2). This study aimed to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of soil FCO2 in sugarcane green harvest systems. The experiment was conducted in two areas of sugarcane in São Paulo, […]

ABSTRACT Conversion of a natural condition to agricultural use can impose changes in soil properties and processes and bring environmental consequences to the region this agricultural use encompasses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical quality of the soil in agricultural areas of municipalities around Sobradinho Lake, a semiarid region in the State of Bahia, using multivariate analysis statistical techniques as a tool. Initially, descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis techniques and the normality test were applied, […]

A toposequence has soils with distinct structural and morphological properties that may affect soil susceptibility to structural deformation in short spatial distances. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil load-bearing capacity and susceptibility to compaction, and quantify the effects that loads above and below preconsolidation pressure cause on soil permeability to air in a toposequence of the Central Lowlands of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Undisturbed soil samples were collected from horizons of soil profiles of three Alfisols […]

There is a great lack of information from soil surveys in the southern part of the State of Amazonas, Brazil. The use of tools such as geostatistics may improve environmental planning, use and management. In this study, we aimed to use scaled semivariograms in sample design of soil physical properties of some environments in Amazonas. We selected five areas located in the south of the state of Amazonas, Brazil, with varied soil uses, such as forest, archaeological dark earth (ADE), […]

Studies on Spodosols in tropical coastal tablelands are still scarce. This paper studied such soils on coastal tablelands and a marine sandbank, in the States of Paraiba and Pernambuco, in Northeastern Brazil. Physical, chemical and mineralogical analyses were performed in 14 soil profiles on mostly plain surfaces under sugarcane cultivation. With regard to drainage, most of the profiles were defined as moderate to poorly drained and groundwater was detected at a depth of 182, 85 and 74 cm in three […]

Soil penetration resistance is an important property that affects root growth and elongation and water movement in the soil. Since no-till systems tend to increase organic matter in the soil, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency with which soil penetration resistance is estimated using a proposed model based on moisture content, density and organic matter content in an Oxisol containing 665, 221 and 114 g kg-1 of clay, silt and sand respectively under annual no-till cropping, […]

The watermelon is cultivated mainly by small producers, in sandy soils under conventional tillage, with occurrence of high erosion taxes, since the crop doesn’t form canopy capable to cover the soil entirely. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L.) was evaluated under different cultivation systems on an Ultisol in the Central Depression of RS, Brazil, in an experiment in the 2008/2009 growing season. On 48 m2 plots in a randomized block design with four repetitions, the following cultivation systems were tested: conventional tillage […]

The monitoring of soil quality based on physical properties is important for the evaluation and maintenance of the sustainability of agricultural systems. An indicator property of soil quality should be sensitive to management changes. This study aimed to evaluate the S parameter as an indicator of soil physical quality and aggregation of an Oxisol, managed for 11 years in systems with and without the inclusion of off-season cover crops. The treatments consisted of: conventional system (SC) and conservation systems with […]

Compaction of agricultural soils due to intensive farming with intense traffic of agricultural machinery has become a limiting factor for crop development in recent years. The objective of this study was to evaluate a Rhodic Acrustox under no-tillage for the influence of compaction on the soil density, porosity, penetration resistance and aggregate stability, and the consequences on corn root growth. Compaction was induced by tractor traffic of MF 292 (105 hp), with a mass of 5 Mg and pressure inflation of 96 kPa for […]

The GPR uses indirect technique for investigation of subsurface structures, characterized as non-invasive method, which allows to extract information throughout the soil profile without drilling, probing or digging. This study aimed to evaluate the use of GPR in the establishment of soil physical properties in a area under sugar cane, and its correlation with the volumetric cylinder method. The study area in Bom Sucesso, State of Paraná (Brazil), had been used for sugar cane cultivation for over 20 years. Undisturbed […]