Abstract
No-tillage in Brazil is an efficient agricultural system that improves crop productivity whilst controlling erosion caused to the soil by degradation. However, there is some concern regarding soil compaction. Our objective was to determine whether the function of soil structure in sustaining crop growth was dependent on row and interrow positions in long-term no-tillage. We took soil samples from a field in a commercial farm under long-term no-tillage since 1979 on a clayey Oxisol in Southern Brazil. We assessed soil physical quality using the revised Peerlkamp technique and measured bulk density, air-filled porosity and air permeability of intact soil cores. Samples were incubated to assess in vitro N2O and CO2 production. The soil physical and structural properties showed consistent differences between interrow and row positions, where the properties measured were more favorable. The revised Peerlkamp technique proved as efficient as quantitative parameters in discriminating treatment differences. Overall, soil physical conditions in the interrow were less favourable than in the row. Pore continuity did not vary as regards position. This may explain why row position did not influence in vitro N2O and CO2 production. Soil physical quality under no-tillage system is enhanced, at least in the short term, by superficial disturbances in the row as a result of the action of the coulters of the no-tillage seeder.
Highlights
No-tillage is an efficient management practice used to control soil erosion in Brazil and is considered to be one of the most important technological innovations for providing agronomic, economic and environmental sustainability in agricultural production systems (Hobbs et al, 2008; Triplett Jr and Dick, 2008)
Unlike conventional tillage systems (Arshad et al, 1999), soil mobilization in no-tillage system (NTS) is limited to the plant rows, the intensity of which depends on the type of drill coulter, which is usually equipped with either double discs or furrow openers
Some samples showed a sharp response in gas production to fertilizer addition, most gave small responses
Summary
No-tillage is an efficient management practice used to control soil erosion in Brazil and is considered to be one of the most important technological innovations for providing agronomic, economic and environmental sustainability in agricultural production systems (Hobbs et al, 2008; Triplett Jr and Dick, 2008). Physical properties that indicate dynamic processes related to water and air flow in the soil are more suitable for assessing the quality and physical function of soil under NTS (Cavalieri et al, 2009). Aside from these properties, semi-quantitative indicators such as the Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) have been proposed for assessing the soil structural quality holistically (Sq) (Ball et al, 2007; Guimarães et al, 2011, 2013; Giarola et al, 2013; Munkholm et al, 2013) and could potentially be applied to the evaluation of the soil structure in long-term NTS. Lower soil density (Kaspar et al, 1991), lower soil resistance to penetration (Veiga et al, 2007) and better soil structure (Tormena et al, 2008) have been reported in the row compared to the interrow
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