Soil compaction is one of the main consequences of inadequate soil management and can lead to a loss of the agricultural sustainability. The compressive behavior of a clayey Red Latosol (Oxisol) under four water tensions and under native vegetation, no-till, and conventional till with a disk plow for two decades was studied. Undisturbed soil samples were used to characterize the soil porosity and for uniaxial compression tests. Preconsolidation pressures and compression indexes were obtained from the soil compression curves, and […]

This study was undertaken in Campos dos Goytacazes, northern State of Rio de Janeiro, based on soil samples of a vertic Fluventic Eutrochrepts, which had been cultivated with sugarcane for several decades. In one situation, the crop had been cultivated for 55 years without burning the residues at harvesting. On another sugarcane plantation, harvest residues had been burned, and vinasse inputs applied by sprinkle irrigation at a rate of 120 m3 ha-1 yr -1 during 35 years. Soil samples were collected from the soil layers […]

Few studies relate the K reserve in soils developed in a humid tropic climate with the minerals found in the clay fraction. Nineteen soils were collected for this purpose in the Triângulo Mineiro region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, developed from different parent materials and different weathering degrees. Due to the greater occurrence, a larger number of samples of the Bauru Group was collected, comprising all the geological formations found in the region. The total K content in soil and the sand, […]

Pearl millet is usually grown in periods when water is deficient in soil; a fact that possibly affects the K uptake. The experiment in Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil, was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil water content (-0.03;-0.05;-0.10 and -0.50 MPa) associated with K rates (15 and 120 mg dm-3 of K) on the K mass flow and diffusion to pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) Leek) roots in greenhouse conditions. In pots with soil from the arable layer of a Red […]

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) crops are of economical and social importance in Brazil; their requirement for nitrogen can be supplied by the symbiosis with bacteria belonging to the order Rhizobiales. However, to guarantee the maximization of the biological nitrogen fixation, seeds must be inoculated with efficient and competitive strains of rhizobia recommended by research. In 2001/2002, 14 million doses of inoculant were sold in Brazil, 99 % of these for soybean and common bean crops. […]

The objective of this study was to evaluate physical and chemical soil properties and organic carbon dynamics in a Typic Eutroferric Red Latossol under different land uses (no-till system, irrigated and non- irrigated crops, and native forest) in the savanna region of Santa Helena de Goiás, Goiás State, Brazil. Samples were collected from five soil layers (0.0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, and 0.30-0.40 m) and separated in aggregate size groups of above or below 0.25 mm. Chemical and physical analyses determined the total […]

The objective of this field experiment was to evaluate the effect of liming and phosphorus application on the structural stability of a clayey acid soil with high organic matter content, a typical feature of the southern Brazilian plateau. The study was carried out on a Brown Latosol (Haplohumox), in Lages, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, in a split plot arrangement of a completely randomized block design. Treatments consisted of lime application at rates of 0, 4.5, and 9.0 Mg ha-1 at the […]

Field assessments of the water redistribution process are time consuming and costly because hydraulic soil properties vary extensively in space and time. The present work proposes two analytical models to estimate the dynamics of this process, based on the use of the hydraulic unit potential gradient of Richard’s equation. The first model estimates the soil water content and the second flow density, both as functions of time for internal drainage at a given depth. From statistical and physical points of […]

The effects of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), substratum fumigation, and addition of soluble phosphate on papaya plant cultivar “Sunrise Solo” parameters (height, leaf number, and stem diameter) were studied. Separate treatments with AMF inoculation (Glomus macrocarpum) and increasing phosphorus levels (60, 120, 240, and 480 mg kg-1 of P in soil) influenced these parameters significantly, while the factor substratum fumigation had no significant effect. The inoculation effect was most expressive when 60 mg kg-1 of P in soil was added. Such was […]

In order to achieve more sound fertilizer recommendations, knowledge about nutritional requirements of rice in different growing systems is fundamental. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of water levels on nutrition and nutrient exportation by upland rice (cultivar IAC 201) under two levels of mineral fertilizer. Experiments were conducted in the growing seasons of 1994/95 and 1995/96 on a Typic Haplustox, in Selvíria, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The experimental design was of randomized […]