Different segments of society have shown interest in understanding the effects of human activities on ecosystems. To this end, the aim of this article is to analyze the scientific literature on the application of the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) conceptual model to identify the parameters used to describe the causal interactions that occur between agriculture and aquatic ecosystems at the watershed scale. In this way, descriptive indicators were established for the data of 63 publications collected through Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct. The results confirm the great heterogeneity in the interpretation of the pressure, state, and impacts components. Part of this discrepancy can be attributed to the use of different indicators, as the model is flexible and generic. Overall, the DPSIR is a tool used not only in the scientific field, but also has demonstrated its potential to guide public policy formulation, planning, and decision-making in water resource management.

The purpose of this article was to accomplish a literature review to analyze the scientific studies which were based on Multicriteria Methods to study water resources management in agriculture. Scientific production indicators were established for the subject, through a descriptive analysis of 519 publications data set generated by the Scopus database search engine. The publications were refined applying several criteria resulting in 30 articles considered to be the most important to interpret the factors that detail the researched topic. The analyzed scientific studies also show that the structuring of multicriteria models is designed to better understand the problem or the process of decision making rather than to make the decisions itself. Furthermore, to the water resources management field, they provide a way to discuss and deal with problems like water distribution and pollution. An aggregating function along with a compensatory approach is used in most publications. Although participatory techniques were not the approach used by most studies, its potential was recognized for dealing with problems such as water management resources.

Context: Neutralising native soil Al3+ is crucial in subtropical agriculture before implementing no-tillage (NT). Aims: The aim of this study was to monitor variations in soil Al saturation and crop yields over 34 years in a field trial under NT, to define the best rate and frequency of lime reapplication for maximum productivity of grain and forage crops. Methods: We measured the soil Al3+ saturation in 11 soil sampling seasons in three soil layers (0–5, 5–10, and 10–15 cm). From these 11 soil samplings, the Al saturation was extrapolated for the harvesting day of each crop by fitting a sigmoid model with five parameters. Then, Al saturation values of each year were plotted against the relative crop yields. From that, the critical Al saturation at which crop yield declined by more than 5% was estimated by a linear plateau model. Key results: We observed that the yields of six of the 10 soybean crops, and all corn, millet, and black oat crops were not decreased even though the soil had been cultivated for 34 years without reapplying lime. The critical Al saturation values in the 10–15 cm soil layers for soybean, wheat, and cover crops were 44, 24 and 20%, respectively. Conclusions: The soybean, corn, and wheat varieties available for Brazil’s subtropical region are tolerant to high Al3+ saturation, but responsive to liming. It is possible to maintain high crop yields in the long term by reapplying limestone on the soil surface. Implications: It is imperative to establish an agronomic soil profile without Al3+ when adopting NT for a diverse crop rotation system. The combination of NT, Al-tolerant varieties, and reapplication of surface limestone is a suitable strategy to optimise both grain and forage yields.

The objective of this study was to propose a multidimensional model capable of evaluating, in a participatory method, the pressures agricultural production systems cause to aquatic ecosystems. The model was structured with information compiled from scientific articles, doctoral theses, public documents, and field research performed with the participation of stakeholders through interviews, questionnaires, and group evaluations. The evaluation matrix combines seven criteria and twenty-five sub-criteria with different weights to evaluate two main aspects: (i) land occupation and soil management and (ii) agricultural waste production and disposal. The model was tested in 14 agricultural farms, representing four productive arrangements, in a large watershed (2400 km²) in southern Brazil. The geophysical characteristics of the site (18.3%), land use and occupation (28.2%), management practices (soil and water) (25.4%), manure and fertilizers (12.6%), pesticides (14.1%), agricultural waste and discards (1.4%) were the criteria and their respective weights used in the structure of the proposed evaluation model. The evaluation showed that the combination of the fragility of cultivated environments and the absence of conservation practices represented the greatest risks (72.9%) to maintaining the sound environmental conditions of aquatic ecosystems. For future research, it is recommended that a cost-effectiveness analysis be carried out to evaluate environmental conflicts.