Volume 33, Number 3, 2009

Fertilizer application in the sowing rows does not necessarily increase crop yields, but it does increase the variability of the soil chemical properties, particularly of the nutrients P and K. This variability is greater in the no-tillage system because there is no homogenization of the soil surface layer. This study evaluated the effect of fertilization strategies on soil chemical properties at distinct soil depths after three and six years from the beginning of the experiment in a Haplohumox under long-term […]

The adventitious rooting of cuttings is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors of the plant material. The knowledge about the action mode of these factors upon rooting is fundamental for the successful production of clonal seedlings through minicuttings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the degree of association between the nutritional state of ministumps with the rooting of eucalypt minicuttings, grown in a clonal minigarden in tubes with subirrigation. Data from minicutting rooting and nutrient contents quantified by […]

Few studies on sugar cane have evaluated the root system of the crop, in spite of its importance. This is mainly due to the difficulty of evaluation and high variability of results. The objective of this study was to develop an evaluation method of the cane root system by means of probes so as to evaluate the mass, distribution and metabolically active roots related to N fertilization at planting. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in an Arenic Kandiustults […]

Phosphorus fractions were determined in soil samples from areas fertilized or not with farmyard cattle manure (FYM) and in samples of FYM used in the semi-arid region of Paraiba state, Brazil. Soil samples were taken from the 0-20; 20-40 and 40-60 cm layers of 18 cultivated areas, which, according to interviews with farmers, had been treated with 12 to 20 t ha-1 FYM annually, for the past 2 to 40 years. Soil samples were also collected from four unfertilized pasture […]

Knowledge on the phosphorus capacity factor (PCF) of soils of the state of Paraíba is important to improve the interpretation of the available phosphorus (P) content and the recommendation of phosphate fertilization in soils of the State. The objective of this study was to evaluate the parameters of P adsorption isotherms (Langmuir and Freundlich) by the techniques of non-linear regression and linearization, in soil samples of the state of Paraíba, and to correlate the values of these parameters with chemical […]

The soil fertility laboratories of the State of Paraíba use only Mehlich-1 as extractant to evaluate soil available P, independently of the soil weathering degree. Since most soils of the state are less weathered than elsewhere in Brazil, the efficiency of Mehlich-1 and of other extractors to evaluate the plant P availability must be tested. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Mehlich-1 (M-1), Mehlich-3 (M-3), Bray-1 (B-1) and mixed ion exchange resin (RTI) as extractants […]

The study of the efficiency of multielement extractant solutions to assess the availability of soil nutrients for plants has increased recently. The use of these solutions increases the efficiency of soil analysis laboratories by simplifying analytical procedures. Furthermore, the determination of nutrients by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) has increased in recent years, owing mainly to simpler test procedures and less limitations in the detection of elements. Aiming at evaluating methods of extraction and verifying their efficiency to […]

In Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), Southern Brazil, aluminum saturation in many areas under no-till system is high and base saturation low in the 0.10-0.20 m layer (subsurface), which may reduce the grain yield of annual crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate if the occurrence of high aluminum saturation and low base saturation in the subsurface, under a no-till system, represents a restrictive environment for crop production, as well as to evaluate forms of lime incorporation […]

The sowing direction influences soil surface roughness, which, combined with rainfall and other variables, e.g., canopy cover, affects soil water erosion. Using a rotating-boom rainfall simulator, five tests of simulated rainfall were applied to black oat (Avena strigosa), and vetch (Vicia sativa), at a constant intensity of 64 mm h-1, between August and November 2006, to assess water and soil loss in the following treatment: mechanized seeding of oats in downslope rows; mechanized seeding of oats along contour lines; mechanized […]

Agricultural management systems can cause degradation of the soil physical quality, with consequences to the environment and crop yields. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the physical quality of an anionic Acrustox in Guaíra, São Paulo state, under the following treatments: no-tillage with irrigation, no-tillage without irrigation, croppasture rotation, conventional tillage, and native forest. The organic matter content, aggregate stability, soil bulk density, porosity and index S were evaluated. Results showed that human intervention reduced […]