Influence of Cultural Management on Compaction of a Cerrado Latosol

Abstract

Soil compaction is a process that negatively affects the availability of water and nutrients to plants. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate alternative practices of cultural management in order to reduce soil compaction. The experimental area is located in the Foundation for Research and Technological Development Rio Verde, where 13 treatments were installed with different systems of cultural management, all rotated with soy. A randomized complete block design (DBC) was used for this experiment, with three blocks (one repetition per block), thirteen treatments and two depths of soil (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm). Physical analyzes were soil resistance to penetration, soil density, and soil moisture at the time of collection. The treatment in which the soil was stirred during the fallow period was the one that presented the lowest resistance of the soil to penetration, followed by the treatment where a mixture of cover crops was used in the second harvest, and the treatment where soybean was harvested and brachiaria in the second crop, using corn with brachiaria every two years, was the one that presented lower soil density, followed by the treatment with stirring during fallow season. Planting areas with a greater diversity of rotating plants presented as a good proposal of soil management, as they provide ideal soil conditions for the crop and for the use of rainwater or irrigation.