Abstract
ABSTRACT Soil temperature is a physical property of great agricultural importance in the soil-plant relationship and in energy exchange with the atmosphere. This study was conducted in a degraded Cambissolo Haplico Ta Eutrofico (Cambisol; Inceptisol) in the Irece Identity Territory, Bahia, Brazil, aiming to evaluate the hourly, daily, and monthly fluctuations of soil temperature at depth, and soil thermal diffusivity in the castor bean crop. Hourly soil temperature data from February 4, 2014, to September 30, 2015, were obtained by [...]
Highlights
From the agronomic point of view, castor bean is very drought tolerant, producing satisfactorily under low rainfall conditions
The soil of the experimental area has a clay-loam texture in all the layers evaluated (Table 1), with silt values higher than those of clay, the silt/clay ratio is higher than 1. This is expected because it is a Cambissolo (Cambisol; Inceptisol); it has a lower degree of weathering
The present study showed that, for most days, soil temperature was within the range recommended for good castor bean emergence
Summary
From the agronomic point of view, castor bean is very drought tolerant, producing satisfactorily under low rainfall conditions. Intense reduction in the natural Caatinga vegetation and substitution by rainfed and irrigated agriculture, with intensive use of agricultural mechanization, occurred in this region from 1980 to 2007 (Paiva et al, 2015) These changes degraded the soil and altered the hydrological cycle, especially concerning increased irregularity of rainfall. Castor bean production is concentrated in the 19 municipalities that compose the Irecê Identity Territory, which represents approximately 80 % (76 thousand tons) of all castor bean production in Brazil (Queiroga et al, 2011) This crop is traditionally produced on small and medium-sized farms and has significant social value through creation of employment and income opportunities in rural areas (Ribeiro et al, 2009). Castor bean crop area has been declining in recent years, decreasing 63 % from 2015 to 2016 (Brasil, 2017), mainly due to increasing irregularity of water availability, which is worsened by minimal plant cover and high soil compaction from excessive use of heavy duty harrowing equipment
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