The intensive use of Cerrado soils for agricultural production coupled with an inadequate management has resulted in soil degradation. This created the need for the introduction of more sustainable systems such as no-tillage and crop-livestock integration. This study analyzed the effect of succession of corn+forage and soybean on soil physical properties. For this purpose, four forages (Brachiaria brizantha, B. ruziziensis, Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia, and P. maximum cv. Áries), were sown in an intercropping trial with maize in three modalities […]

The soils associated to depressed summits on the Coastal Plains are still little studied in Brazil and are differentiated in several aspects. Generally, the closer a soil is to these depressions, the sandier is the texture and the more accentuated the hydromorphism, where the occurrence of Spodosols is common. The objective of this work was to perform different extractions of Fe, Al, Si and organic C to understand the podzolization process in soils of the summit depressions of the Coastal […]

Minas Gerais stands out as the largest coffee-producing state of Brazil. This crop is extremely susceptible to weeds, which can be handled by manual, mechanized and/or chemical methods, which strongly affect production costs and soil quality. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different weed control methods in and between coffee rows on the soil microbiota and its processes. For this purpose, soil samples were taken in April 2010 from an Oxisol on […]

One of the largest strawberry-producing municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is Turuçu, in the South of the State. The strawberry production system adopted by farmers is similar to that used in other regions in Brazil and in the world. The main difference is related to the soil management, which can change the soil chemical properties during the strawberry cycle. This study had the objective of assessing the spatial and temporal distribution of soil fertility parameters using principal component […]

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is one of the most limiting factors for productivity. This research was carried out to assess the influence of Al nutrient solution on plant height, dry weight and morphoanatomical alterations in corn (Zea mays L.) roots and leaves. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse with five treatments consisting of Al doses (0, 25, 75, 150, and 300 µmol L-1) and six replications. The solutions were constantly aerated, and the pH was initially adjusted to 4.3. The […]

Soil organic matter (SOM) is one of the major reservoirs of carbon on Earth and is one of the key contributors to the carbon cycle. Peatlands are natural accumulators of organic matter commonly derived from decomposing plant residues in water-saturated environments, and represent an initial stage of a much longer pedogenic pathway leading to carbonification. The soil biomass markedly influences the global carbon cycle, accounting for approximately 85 % of all carbon on the Earth’s surface. Plant tissues are mainly […]

Vegetated slopes are more resistant to mass movement and erosion by water. The vegetation contributes to the soil stability, especially by increasing the shear strength provided by roots. Plant species that have been most effective in stabilizing unstable slopes are the grasses, belonging to the family Gramineae. One specimen of this family, vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty), has proved very effective in slope stabilization. With the objective of evaluating the improvement of soil shear strength parameters at different times after […]

In areas of intensive pig production, pig slurry is used as an important nitrogen (N) source of crops, but is also a major cause of soil, air and water pollution. Strategies are required to reduce N losses from this organic material to the environment and to improve the agronomic efficiency as plant N source. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of a nitrification inhibitor (NI) and the split application of pig slurry (PS) […]

When conventional tillage is replaced by no-tillage (NT) changes occur in the dynamics of soil nutrients and acidity, which may influence the soil-plant relationships and consequently, the criteria for soil fertility management. This study determined the criteria for liming as well as the soil critical levels for P and K in a crop rotation of soybean, maize, wheat, barley, and white oat, widely used in the South-Central region of the State of Parana, in Southern Brazil. The study involved 13 […]

Studies of heavy rainfall are of practical interest for the conservation management of natural resources such as watersheds and soil and water. The spatial distribution of these natural rainfall events allows conclusions about regions where the occurrence of heavy rain is more frequent and to estimate their magnitude for locations without rainfall data sets. Thus, the purpose of this study was to map heavy rainfall data from 177 meteorological stations, using a geostatistical approach, for Minas Gerais, identifying the most […]