Water erosion is the most deleterious form of soil degradation. Besides reducing the production capacity of soils for crops, it causes strong financial and environmental impacts, due to the nutrient losses associated with it. This research work was developed with the objective of quantifying water and soil losses, P, K, Ca, and Mg losses in runoff water and extracted P, and exchangeable K, Ca and Mg losses in runoff sediments, caused by rainfall erosion, in an experiment conducted under natural […]

Soil surface roughness is, among other factors, affected by soil tillage, cumulative rainfall and aggregate stability in relation to destructive water action. The soil surface roughness of a soil classified as a Haplumbrept was evaluated in an area where a water erosion experiment under natural rainfall has been carried out over the course of 15 years in the South of the Planalto Catarinense, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. The soil microrelief was characterized by the indices: roughness (RR), tortuosity (T) and limiting […]

Although being temporary, the presence of tillage-induced surface roughness in the soil is an important requirement in conservation tillage systems. The reason is that surface roughness increases both surface retention and surface infiltration of water in the soil, reduces runoff velocity and volume, and traps eroded sediments, thus reducing water erosion damages. With this in mind, this study was developed with the objective of evaluating modifications in soil surface roughness by tillage and rainfall actions related to water erosion, in […]

The no-tillage system improves the structural soil quality. However, machinery traffic can cause surface soil compaction. In this situation, soil tilling for lime incorporation not only corrects soil acidity problems, but also decreases possible negative effects of soil compaction. The effects of tilling or not tilling the soil at the moment of lime reapplication on physical attributes in the soil profile and crop yields under different soil management systems were therefore evaluated. A long-term experiment was conducted on a Rhodic […]

Different management practices lead to distinct surface and subsurface soil physical conditions, which in turn result in different levels of rainfall erosion. In this context, a 5.5 year field erosion-study was conducted with the objective of studying the effects of both tillage and cropping systems and forms of crop residue management on some surface and subsurface physical soil conditions and their influence on rainfall erosion. For this purpose, rainfall was simulated on a severely degraded, sandy loam Paleudult with 0.08 m m-1 […]

Erosion is the most deleterious form of soil degradation. Besides reducing the productivity capacity for crops, it can cause serious environmental problems, such as sedimentation and pollution of water sources. Yet the use of sound soil management systems and well-planned support conservation practices can solve erosion problems satisfactorily. In order to obtain quantitative information on the subject as guidelines for conservation plans, an erosion experiment under natural rainfall was conducted on a very clayey soil (Typic Haplortox), in Santo Ângelo, […]

The sorbed P/ P in solution relation of the soil may be affected by the previously sorbed P (Ppre) content and by soil management systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate modifications in the maximum P sorption capacity (Pmax) and the constant related to the colloid linkage energy (k) of the Langmuir isotherm caused (a) by the inclusion of Ppre, and (b) by different soil tillage methods and crop sequences. In May 1997, samples of two Oxisols (Very […]

Growth stagnation on native grassland during the winter season has stimulated the introduction of winter species in order to increase forage offer for animals in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. To determine the nutrient losses by erosion as affected by different methods of native grassland improvement, an experiment was carried out at the Agronomic Experimental Station of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Eldorado do Sul. A mixture of the winter forage species black […]

This study was carried out at EMBRAPA-CNPAF, Santo Antônio de Goiás (GO), Brazil, in a clayey Oxisol, under three soil tillage systems, from 1992 to 1998.Corn was grown in the summer and common bean in the winter, under center pivot sprinkler irrigation.The objective was to compare the values of pH, Ca, Mg, P, and K of the soil, sampled at different depths under no-tillage to those from soil under moldboard plough tillage (conventional) and harrow tillage.Forty replicates were collected at […]

The study of the effects of soil tillage systems on some physical and chemical properties of a Typic Paleudal and on cassava yield (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) was carried out in the northwest of the state of Paraná, Brazil in 1994/95 and 1996/97. Three soil tillage systems were used: (a) no-tillage; (b) minimum tillage (field cultivator and disc harrowing); and, (c) conventional tillage (mouldplowing and disc harrowing). A randomized complete block experimental design with six replications was used. Higher macroporosity values in the 0.10 m […]