Conventional tillage and intensive machinery traffic are the major causes of physical soil degradation in sugarcane fields. This study evaluates the impact of adopting conservation management practices during sugarcane planting on soil physical properties and stalk yield of sugarcane in the municipality of Ibitinga, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The experimental design (split-block) included four cover crops and three soil tillage systems, with three repetitions. For comparison purposes, a control treatment was also included (without cover crop and under [...] ABSTRACT Conventional tillage and intensive machinery traffic are the major causes of physical soil degradation in sugarcane fields. This study evaluates the impact of adopting conservation management practices during sugarcane planting on soil physical properties and stalk yield of sugarcane in the municipality of Ibitinga, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The experimental design (split-block) included four cover crops and three soil tillage systems, with three repetitions. For comparison purposes, a control treatment was also included (without cover crop and under

Soil quality (SQ) assessments are fundamental to design more sustainable land uses and management practices. However, SQ is a complex concept and there is not a universal approach to evaluate SQ across different conditions of climate, soil, and cropping system. Large-scale sugarcane production in Brazil is predominantly based on conventional tillage and high mechanization intensity, leading to SQ degradation. Thus through this study, we aim to assess the impact of sustainable management practices, including cover crops and less intensive tillage systems, in relation to the conventional system, using a soil quality index composed of abiotic indicators. Additionally, we developed a decision tree model to predict SQ using a minimum set of variables. The study was conducted in the municipality of Ibitinga, São Paulo, Brazil. The experimental design used was in strips, with four cover crops and three tillage systems. We evaluated three sugarcane cultivation cycles (2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18 crops). To calculate the SQ index, we selected five abiotic indicators: macroporosity, potassium content, calcium content, bulk density, and mean weight-diameter of soil aggregates. Based on our SQ index, our findings indicated that the soil quality was driven by the production cycle of sugarcane. Although a reduction of soil quality occurs between the plant cane and first ratoon cane cycles, from the second ratoon cane there is a trend of the gradual restoration of soil quality due to the recovery of both the soil’s physical and chemical attributes. Our study also demonstrated that the cultivation of sunn hemp and millet as cover crops, during the implementation of sugarcane plantation, enhanced soil quality. Due to the advantages provided by the use of these two cover crops, we encourage more detailed and long-term studies, aiming to test the efficiency of intercropping involving sunn hemp and millet during the re-planting of sugarcane.

The need to put into practice sustainable agricultural production systems has been supported by agroecology science that seeks to optimize land use to food production with the lowest impact on soil. This study evaluated soil quality, based on physical and chemical attributes, in agroforestry (AGF) and silvopastoral (SILVP) systems developed for large-scale food production. The study was carried out in the municipality of Itirapina, state of São Paulo, in two areas with AGF and SILVP system, compared to an area with a forest fragment and another with pasture in a Quartzipisamment Sand Neosol. The soil collections were carried out in the layers of 0.00–0.05, 0.05–0.10, 0.10–0.20, and 0.20–0.40 m, where physical soil attributes were evaluated (total porosity, microporosity, and microporosity, density, mean diameter of aggregates) as well as chemical attributes (macro- and micronutrients), in addition to carbon and nitrogen storage. To interpret the data, Tukey’s test was applied to compare means, and principal component analysis was used to better characterize the study environments. The results showed that agroforestry and silvopastoral systems developed for large-scale production are efficient in improving chemical and physical attributes that reflect on soil quality, especially in the superficial layers of the soil, overcoming pasture and the natural regeneration process. Carbon and nitrogen storage were the main variables that differentiated the production systems, highlighting the importance of the AGF and SILVP systems as more sustainable agricultural intensification strategies, even in soils of low agricultural suitability.

Archaeological Dark Earth (ADE) soils are rich in organic matter and highly fertile, but when used for farming or grazing activities, they generally lose chemical and physical quality, becoming more susceptible to erosion. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the changes in physical properties of the soil in different management systems adopted in ADE areas of the Amazon. The study area is located in the municipality of Novo Aripuanã, in the mesoregion of Madeira, south of the state of Amazonas. Three ADE areas were selected: 1native forest (Amazon forest fragment); 2area covered with Brachiaria (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu), without the addition of fertilizers or soil improvers; and 3area covered with pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and other commercial crops (corn, beans, and watermelon). The following soil characteristics were evaluated: soil resistance to penetration, soil bulk density, macroporosity and microporosity, and total soil porosity in the 00.20m and 0.200.40m layers. The results showed that the pasture area presented a smaller amount of total pores and complex pores, which are important for water flow in the soil. The areas analyzed in this study presented no critical obstacle to plant root development with the low value of resistance to penetration (<2.00MPa) in all areas.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar as correlações lineares do desenvolvimento individual das árvores de Eucalyptus urograndis em função dos atributos físicos do solo, com vistas a evidenciar zonas específicas de manejo no intuito de utilizar a lama de cal de maneira sustentável ao ambiente em um Neossolo Quartzarênico. Para isso, utilizou-se a lama de cal associado a um fertilizante mineral, a fim de verificar correlações lineares e dependência espacial entre planta e solo e, efeito da lama de cal na qualidade físico-ambiental do solo. Foram coletados atributos de planta e solos para a determinação dos atributos físicos nas camadas de 0-0,20 m e 0,20-0,40 m em uma malha experimental de aproximadamente 2 ha, contendo 50 pontos amostrais. No âmbito da geoestatística houve dependência espacial para os atributos UG2, UV2, DP1, DP2 e Argila1. Os mapas de krigagem permitiram visualizar a distribuição dos atributos físicos do solo. Palavras-chave: Manejo do solo, Resíduos celulósicos, Silvicultura