ABSTRACT: Research focused on adequate nutrition of plants is essential in modern coffee production to increase yield and develop more efficient management strategies with greater environmental and economic sustainability. The objectives of this study were to establish critical and optimal levels of soil fertility properties for high yielding Arabica coffee crops using the Boundary Line method and, then, relate the macronutrient contents in the diagnostic leaf of coffee to the macronutrients available in the soil using the Quadrant Diagram of […]

ABSTRACT Water and oxygen deficiencies in the soybean crop cultivated on lowland soils are an important topic of research. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in water and oxygen supply and soybean yield caused by soil management in lowland soils. A soybean crop was grown under four soil conditions: no-tillage (NT), chiseling (CH), ridge tillage on no-tillage (NTR), and ridge tillage on chiseling (CHR). Soil bulk density, total porosity, macro- and microporosity, air permeability, and saturated hydraulic […]

ABSTRACT Lithological and geomorphological variations determine formation of soils with different mineralogical constitutions and can influence the distribution of potentially toxic elements (PTE). The aim of this study was to determine the contents of PTE and mineralogical assemblages along soil profiles of different classes and parent materials and to investigate the association among these factors in the São Francisco sedimentary basin in the northern part of the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Eight soil pedons of different classes that developed […]

ABSTRACT: Erodibility represents the intrinsic susceptibility of the soil to the erosion process, represented by the K factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). In Brazil, there are few field experiments determined with a series larger than ten years of data, which are the most reliable for quantifying the K factor. The aim of this study was to determine the K factor of the USLE by the direct method, relating soil losses determined in the field under standard conditions […]

ABSTRACT: The impact on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions caused by combining dairy slurry (DS) and urea to supply crops with nitrogen (N) is still not well characterized. The main objective of this study was to compare the differences between N2O emissions in the cases of exclusive use of urea and the combined use of DS and urea as N sources to no-tillage wheat and corn. We also compared N2O emissions between two DS application methods (surface-broadcast vs. injection), as well […]

ABSTRACT: Organic fertilization effect on physical-chemical properties in no-tillage systems in tropical soils has been widely investigated, but little is known about the effects of this practice on the mineralogy of the clay fraction. This study aimed to evaluate the clay-fraction mineralogy of two subtropical soils, fertilized with organic residues in long-term no-tillage systems. An Alfisol fertilized with 0, 40, and 80 m3 ha-1 yr-1 pig slurry was evaluated for eight years, and an Oxisol with 0, 8, and 16 […]

ABSTRACT Rice yield increases in response to improvements in crop management, but the impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the subtropical region of Southern Brazil remains unknown. A three-year field study was developed aiming to evaluate the impact that an increase in crop management levels (high and very high) has on soil methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, as compared to the level (medium) currently adopted by farmers in Southern Brazil. Differences in crop management included seed and […]

ABSTRACT The “Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure” (VESS) is a method used primarily to evaluate the soil structural quality of Oxisols in Brazil and secondly for more specific research, consultancy, and teaching purposes. Since the methodology was never applied and compared with laboratory evaluations of physical properties of hydromorphic soils of the Pampa biome in the south of Brazil, this study evaluated the use of VESS as a visual indicator of the structure quality of a typic eutrophic Albaqualf soil […]

ABSTRACT Plinthite and petroplinthite occur frequently in Brazilian soils, but there is little information on the behavior of these materials. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of different drying periods on the hardening and stability of plinthic materials of soils in the floodplain of the Araguaia River and the João Leite stream in Goiás. Soil samples were collected, with the aid of 0.10 m high and 0.15 m diameter PVC cylinders, directly from the plinthic […]

ABSTRACT Soil microbial biomass plays a significant role in soils, and it is often used as an early indicator of change in soil quality. Soil microbial biomass is affected by different fertilization management practices. Therefore, the impact of different long-term fertilization management practices on the soil organic carbon (SOC) content, soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC), and soil microbial biomass nitrogen (SMBN), as well as the soil microbial quotient (SMQ) in the tilled layer (0.00-0.20 m) were studied in the present […]