Efeitos de culturas de cobertura na qualidade física do solo sob plantio direto

• Autor(a) principal: Andrade, Rui da Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2008
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFG
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tde/2858
• topic: textura do solo; densidade do solo; porosidade do solo; Phaseolus vulgaris; atributos físicos; índice S; pivô central; cerrado; soil texture; bulk density; soil porosity; Phaseolus vulgaris; physical attributes; S index; center pivot; cerrado; Solo e água

The objective of this study was to verify the suitability of S index in the diagnostic of physical quality of Cerrado soils and, based upon it, to determine the effect of cover crop mulches on physical quality of a Dystrophic Red Latosol (Oxisol) under no-tillage. A total of 2364 samples were selected from the soil data base of Embrapa Rice & Beans and Embrapa Cerrados, covering Cerrado soils from Mid-West, North, and Northeast regions of Brazil. Values of S index, defined as the slope of the soil water retention curve at its inflection point, obtained from these samples were correlated to soil bulk density, macroporosity, and total porosity, considering the following textural classes: very clayey, clayey, sandy clay, sandy clay loam, loam/sandy loam e loamy sand/sand. Based on review of literature, critical values were established for the physical attributes that separated, according to the texture, soils with good and poor structural quality and, based upon they, critical values were established for the S index. In order to study the effect of cover crop mulches on soil physical quality, an experiment was carried out under center pivot at Embrapa Rice & Beans, in Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, in a randomized block design, with eight replications. The treatments consisted of eight cover crops: Brachiaria brizantha; corn associated with B. brizantha; pigeon pea; millet; Panicum maximum; sorghum; Stylosanthes guianensis; and Crotalaria juncea. The first seven crops had been cultivated in summer season since December 2001 and C. juncea since November 2003. In the winter season, after cover crop desiccation, irrigated common bean crop was implemented under no-tillage. In February 2006, soil organic matter content, some soil physical attributes, and soil physical quality measured by S index were determined. This index was highly correlated to the physical attributes, showing to be an adequate indicator of physical quality of Cerrado soils. The limit value of S = 0.045 showed to be adequate to separate soils with good structure and soils with the tendency to be degraded, while values of S ≤ 0,025 indicate physically degraded soils. Cover crops, specially grasses, favored soil aggregation at surface layer. Soil cultivation modified its structure in comparison to native forest, increasing bulk density and reducing macroporosity and total porosity, and hence, reducing soil physical quality. Among the cover crops, pigeon pea, C. juncea, and corn associated with B. brizantha were those that maintained soil surface layer with good physical quality.