The spatial variability of strongly weathered soils under sugarcane and soybean/wheat rotation was quantitatively assessed on 33 fields in two regions in São Paulo State, Brazil: Araras (15 fields with sugarcane) and Assis (11 fields with sugarcane and seven fields with soybean/wheat rotation). Statistical methods used were: nested analysis of variance (for 11 fields), semivariance analysis and analysis of variance within and between fields. Spatial levels from 50 m to several km were analyzed. Results are discussed with reference to […]

Black oat provides an excellent soil cover, and is a preferential winter crop mainly before soybean cultivation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of black oat straw management on soil cover, soybean emergency, soil temperature and soil water content. The experiment was carried out during 1997/98, at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria (RS), on a Typic Hapludalf soil. A completely randomized block design was used in a […]

The adsorption of two humic acids (HA) was carried out on a natural Oxisol (natural LR) and on an ammonium-oxalate treated sample (treated LR), in order to investigate the adsorption mechanisms and the main functional groups involved and relate the adsorptive capacity with the chemical and molecular characteristics of the adsorbates. The HA extracted with 0.5 N NaOH solution from a coal sample (HAc) and from a Mollisol sample (HAs) were characterized by elemental analysis and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The experimental […]

The influence of no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems, native forest (NF) and grassland (G), on the population density and biomass of Oligochaeta Amynthas spp., at Campos Gerais in the state of Paraná, Brazil, was evaluated monthly between February 1993 and January 1994. For the NT and CT systems, the areas were cultivated with corn, triticale and soybean, while, the native field consisted of vegetation of steppes of low grasses and a range forest of gallery forest. The population […]

The quality of semi-detailed (scale 1:100.000) soil maps and the utility of a taxonomically based legend were assessed by studying 33 apparently homogeneous fields with strongly weathered soils in two regions in São Paulo State: Araras and Assis. An independent data set of 395 auger sites was used to determine purity of soil mapping units and analysis of variance within and between mapping units and soil classification units. Twenty three soil profiles were studied in detail. The studied soil maps […]

Manganese toxicity may be a major constraint to cotton production in the states of São Paulo and Paraná and Mn deficiency may be a problem in the cerrado areas of Brazil. The objective of this experiment was to study the differential response of three cotton cultivars to Mn in nutrient solution. Cotton plants of the cultivars Coodetec 401, CNPA-ITM 90 and IAC 22 were grown in pots with nutrient solutions containing 0.0, 36.4, 72.8, 145.5 and 290.9 mmol L-1 of […]

The objective of this work was to study the association between soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv. IAC 8) and two different arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Gigaspora margarita or Glomus intraradices), grown under increasing rates of phosphorus (0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg kg1) and harvested at four times (15, 30, 60 and 90 days). The assessed variables were: shoot dry weight, pod dry weight, root colonization by AM fungi, the concentrations of N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Fe, […]

In conservation tillage systems, the residue cover and surface soil roughness decrease runoff and allow increased terrace distance, as compared to conventional tillage systems, in spite of the increase of surface consolidation which occurs especially in no-tillage systems. The distance between terraces should not allow runoff between them since this would cause residue removal and increased erosion as well as a runoff volume or rate higher than the terraces’-channel capacity. The distance between terraces was determined at the Agronomic Experimental […]

Phosphate solubilization by bacteria and fungi grown in broth media (glucose-yeast extract/GYE) supplied with phosphate (Ca-P, Al-P and Fe-P) and carbon sources (cellulose, starch, sucrose, glucose, fructose and xylose) was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Growth, halo diameter, colony diameter and halo/colony ratio varied according to the microorganisms and phosphate or carbon sources. From 57 isolates, 56 were able to solubilize Ca-P with differing halo diameters, five succeeded to solubilize Al-P at different ranges and none was able to solubilize Fe-P. […]

Available soil phosphorus is maintained by less labile form that, in the long term, can become available to the plants. The aim of this research was to determine the depletion of various inorganic phosphorus fractions after successive extraction with resin. Soil samples were collected in four long-term experiments under no tillage or conventional tillage systems with different crop sequence. The soils (heavy clay Rhodic Hapludox, clay Rhodic Hapludox and clay loam Rhodic Paleudult) were collected from three depths, 0-2.5, 2.5-7.5 […]