Integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLs) are a viable strategy for the recovery and maintenance of soil characteristics. In the present study, an ICL experiment was conducted by the Instituto Agronômico do Paraná in the municipality of Xambre, Parana (PR), Brazil, to evaluate the effects of various grazing intensities. The objective of the present study was to quantify the levels of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil enzymatic activity in an ICL of soybean (summer) and Brachiaria ruziziensis (winter), with B. ruziziensis […]

The Shape of sand grains plays an important role in evaluation of soil particle size distribution. However, in most sieving techniques it is assumed that grains are spherical and can be described by a single parameter, diameter. Moreover, the subjectivity of the tests used to estimate sand roughness makes it difficult to obtain data that accurately represent reality. The aim of this paper was to study the use of image analysis together with the degree of sphericity and fractal theory […]

Soil compaction is an undesirable consequence of land use for crop production, especially under cultivation with minimum soil turnover as in the no-tillage system (NTS). However, the compaction caused by machine traffic on soils under NTS does not make crop production unviable, indicating that some intrinsic mechanisms promote the reversion of soil compaction. In this study, the influence of alternate contraction and expansion cycles was evaluated with regard to the bulk density (ρ) of a Latossolo Vermelho argiloso (clayey Oxisol) […]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in natural ecosystems as they influence plant nutrition and soil structure. The aim of this study was to determine the mycorrhizal inoculum potential and the relationship between mycorrhizal mycelium length of AMF and aggregation of riparian soils. Soil samples were collected in riparian areas in the Itajai Açu river watershed, between the municipalities of Gaspar and Navegantes, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Eight areas were sampled within three soil classes: Cambissolo (Inceptisol) (C), Gleissolo […]

To produce reliable analytical data in a laboratory, all the stages of the analysis protocol must be properly understood and controlled. Extraction of soil P may thus be compromised by the conditions of analysis, and this may explain variability in results. Therefore, the objective of this study was to verify the effect of deviations in agitation speed, time of soil/ solution contact, and environmental temperature on extraction of soil P by Mehlich-1 (M-1) and Mehlich-3 (M-3). The study was conducted […]

Epigeous termite mounds are frequently observed in pasture areas, but the processes regulating their population dynamics are poorly known. This study evaluated epigeous termite mounds in cultivated grasslands used as pastures, assessing their spatial distribution by means of geostatistics and evaluating their vitality. The study was conducted in the Cerrado biome in the municipality of Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In two pasture areas (Pasture 1 and Pasture 2), epigeous mounds (nests) were georeferenced and analyzed for height, […]

Soil management, in terms of tillage and cropping systems, strongly influences the biological properties of soil involved in the suppression of plant diseases. Fungistasis mediated by soil microbiota is an important component of disease-suppressive soils. We evaluated the influence of different management systems on fungistasis against Fusarium graminearum, the relationship of fungistasis to the bacterial profile of the soil, and the possible mechanisms involved in this process. Samples were taken from a long-term experiment set up in a Paleudult soil […]

The sugarcane industry, a strategic crop in Brazil, requires technological improvements in production efficiency to increase the crop energy balance. Among the various currently studied alternatives, inoculation with diazotrophic bacteria proved to be a technology with great potential. In this context, the efficiency of a mixture of bacterial inoculant was evaluated with regard to the agronomic performance and N nutrition of sugarcane. The experiment was carried out on an experimental field of Embrapa Agrobiologia, in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, using […]

In the south-central region of Brazil, there is a trend toward reducing the sugarcane inter-harvest period and increasing traffic of heavy harvesting machinery on soil with high water content, which may intensify the compaction process. In this study, we assessed the structural changes of a distroferric Red Latosol (Oxisol) by monitoring soil water content as a function of the Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR) and quantified its effects on the crop yield and industrial quality of the first ratoon crop […]

Monitoring the variables that constitute the soil water balance equation in a farmed field is important for reliably evaluating water deficit periods during the crop cycle, managing irrigation and estimating nutrient losses through leaching. Components of the water balance equation may vary in space and time, and the study of the temporal stability of the spatial variability of these components is essential for determining the observation points in the field (sites) for monitoring soil moisture accurately with reduced effort in […]