Abstract
Soil compaction in no-tillage systems (NTS) affects the sustainability of this management. To overcome the problem, mechanical chiseling and maintenance of the vegetation cover suggested were as management practices in order toreestablish ideal cultivation conditions. The soil studied was occupied for 20 years with annual crops in conventional tillage system (plowing and leveling harrow). After, the NTS was implemented for 15 years old. In 2012, management were implemented to study the effects on soil quality, with mechanical chiseling, cover crops, rice and bean. Thepurpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of soil chiseling and the use of cover crops on the maintenance of NTS sustainability after a crop succession of rice and common bean on a clayed Orthic Ferralsol. After four years we evaluation were then carried out to analyze the effects of the system on the soil quality physical and chemical attributes. We studied five cover plants (Crotalaria juncea; Cajanus cajan; Pennisetum glaucum; Urochloa ruziziensis and Fallow) all in NTS with and without chiseling. In addition, we studied a natural Savannah fragment too. Chiseling with cultivation of Crotalaria juncea as vegetation cover improved the physical properties compared with the initial conditions. However, cover crops grown on unchiseled soil resulted in an increase in the chemical properties P, K, and Mg concentrations, pH, and soil organic matter. The soil nanostructures morphological characteristics is a promising indicator it quality, complementary to the chemical indicators, for being sensitive enough for the short-term detection of changes soil properties.
Highlights
The establishment of a competitive production system of the Brazilian agriculture depends on the adoption and maintenance of agricultural practices based on sustainable bases
The no-tillage system (NTS) treatments consisted of two conditions of the soil surface: under no-tillage with and without mechanical chiseling - combined with four cover crops adapted to the Cerrado conditions (Santos et al, 2012; Nascimento et al, 2016)
In 2012, after 15 years of no-tillage, treatments were implemented to study the effects on soil quality, with mechanical chiseling of the area, sowing of cover crops and upland rice
Summary
The establishment of a competitive production system of the Brazilian agriculture depends on the adoption and maintenance of agricultural practices based on sustainable bases. Among the different agricultural practices, the no-tillage system (NTS) is noteworthy, for being a conservation management, based on absence of tillage, use of crop rotation, and maintenance of a permanent soil cover (Alves et al, 2015; Mateus & Santos, 2012). Despite the numerous benefits for the soil, the installation of long-term NTS has caused problems with soil compaction (Mioranza et al, 2015). This is true in irrigated areas, where the land use is intensive, with increased traffic of heavy machinery due to the number of agricultural operations, often carried out at excessive soil moisture levels. According to (Freddi et al, 2007), soil compaction alters the soil bulk density and porosity, limiting root development, hampering the water and nutrient uptake by crops, affecting the sustainability of no-tillage systems (Silva et al, 2004).
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