Volume 32, Number 5, 2008

The supply of mineral and organic manuring promotes alterations in the physical and chemical conditions of the soil, with consequent effects on crop productivity. An experiment was accomplished in the county of Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, from February 2004 to July 2006, to compare different organic fertilizers with the traditional chemical manuring of the yellow passion fruit plant regarding their effects on chemical and physical characteristics of the fertilized soil. The experiment had a randomized complete block design with four […]

In spite of the agricultural use potential and the peculiar edaphic characteristics, few studies have been conducted to estimate the potential acidity of soils with high organic matter content. The objective of this study was to establish a mathematical model that could estimate the potential acidity (H + Al) based on the pH SMP after determination of the soil pH in water and in CaCl2 10 mmol L-1 solution with reading of the pH in the suspension or supernatant of the equilibrium solution SMP […]

In the recent years soybean cultivation has expanded largely in areas with sandier textures in the Cerrado. This has raised questions as to the sustainability and technical, economic and environmental viability of soybean production in these soils. Moreover, differences in the yield potential and nutrient dynamics in soil and plants are expected along a variation of soil texture. This study aimed to evaluate yield and nutritional aspects of soybean plants grown in Cerrado soils with different textures. Two databanks with […]

The use of green manure may contribute to reduce soil erosion and increase the soil organic matter content and N availability in coffee plantations in the Zona da Mata, State of Minas Gerais, in Southeastern Brazil. The potential of four legumes (A. pintoi, C. mucunoides, S. aterrimum and S. guianensis) to produce above-ground biomass, accumulate nutrients and mineralize N was studied in two coffee plantations of subsistence farmers under different climate conditions. The biomass production of C. mucunoides was influenced […]

The change of cultivation systems from conventional to no-tillage, the change in soil sampling depth and the higher crop yields over time can influence the critical P content, fertility ranges and fertilizer doses recommended for crops. The objective of this work was to calibrate the soil P tests, Mehlich-1, Mehlich-3 and anion-exchange (AER) resin for soybean, wheat and corn plants cultivated under no-tillage system, and to estimate the P fertilizer amounts for a maximum economic yield. For this purpose soil […]

The density and arrangement of trees influences the production of plant residues in coffee agroecosystems. This differentiated input of biomass regulates the contents of soil-C and -N. This study aimed to evaluate the contents of organic C and total N in a Typic Hapludox, in different spacings of (Coffea arabica L.) trees and tree rows. The experiment was carried out from 1992 to 2004 on an experimental farm of EPAMIG, in Machado (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). The treatments consisted of […]

A large proportion of soybean fields in Brazil are currently cultivated in the Cerrado region, where the area planted with this crop is growing considerably every year. Soybean cultivation in acid soils is also increasing worldwide. Since the levels of toxic aluminum (Al) in these acid soils is usually high it is important to understand how cations can reduce Al rhizotoxicity in soybean. In the present study we evaluated the ameliorative effect of nine divalent cations (Ca, Mg, Mn, Sr, […]

The humic substances that compose the soil organic matter participate actively in the pedogenetic soil processes, particularly in the Histic (Histic), Mollic (Chernozemic), Umbric (Humic) and Spodic (Spodic) diagnostic horizons. This study aimed to determine organic C amounts in the soil humic substances and evaluate their applicability for diagnostic horizons recognition. Fifty-six diagnostic soil horizons from different Brazilian regions were used, 52 from surface horizons or epipedons (H histic, A mollic, A proeminent, A humic and A moderate) and four […]

The Brazilian Atlantic coast have has extreme environmental diversity, where is expressive the occurrence of Argisols, described and identified in several studies, that do not have exhausted the possibilities of interpretations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the main differences in the physical and chemical properties of Argisols of the Brazilian Atlantic coast by multivariate analysis, allowing inferences on their genesis and fertility. For this purpose, 91 soil profiles from the soil survey reports of the Project RADAMBRASIL were analyzed, […]

Soil carbon stocks are the result of interaction of factors that determine their formation and decomposition. This study aimed to quantify the total organic recovery in various C pools under the following different land uses of an Ultisol: secondary forest, rubber tree plantation, pasture, and citrus plantation. The soil was sampled at depths of 0 to 10 cm and 10 to 20 cm and the following characteristics were determined: total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), fulvic acid fraction-C (FA), humic acid […]