Soil management under no-tillage systems in the tropics with special reference to Brazil

Author(s):  
Pedro L. O. de A. Machado ◽  
Carlos A. Silva
1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 255-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
D M Hayward ◽  
T L Wiles ◽  
G A Watson

Although, in the tropics, maize is largely peasant-grown while soya is produced on large-scale mechanized farms, traditional growing methods have imposed limitations common to both. With the no-tillage techniques now being developed in W Africa and S America, however, benefits from reduced run-off and soil loss, lower soil temperatures and improved moisture retention have raised yields and, with new equipment, promise better returns from both small and large farms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliani do Prado ◽  
Adriano Catossi Tinos ◽  
Rafael de Almeida Schiavon ◽  
Denise Mahl

ABSTRACT Yield response data of crops to soil and water management are vital for maximizing profits. This research aimed to evaluate the yield of the ‘IPR Andorinha’ bean cultivar under distinct irrigation depths (0, 25, 48, 100 and 130 % of the net irrigation depth) and tillage systems (no-tillage and conventional tillage), during the Brazilian fall season. The experimental design was in strips with subdivided plots and four replications, with the factor soil management in the plot and irrigation depths in the subplot. No-tillage had an average grain yield 26.5 % higher than that of the conventional tillage. Both the soil management treatments presented a quadratic response (R2 > 90 %) to the irrigation depths applied, and the maximum yields were reached at 63.8 % (y = 2,452 kg ha-1) and 81.8 % (y = 1,789 kg ha-1) of the irrigation depth, respectively for the no-tillage and conventional tillage. However, the irrigation of bean cropped in the Brazilian fall season is not economically feasible for the no-tillage and conventional tillage when the price of the water millimeter is 43.19 and 33.27 times higher than the price of the bean kilogram, respectively, resulting in yields of 1,345.2 and 699.4 kg ha-1.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 805-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben-Hur Costa de Campos ◽  
Telmo Jorge Carneiro Amado ◽  
Cimélio Bayer ◽  
Rodrigo da Silveira Nicoloso ◽  
Jackson Ernani Fiorin

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a crucial role in soil quality and can act as an atmospheric C-CO2 sink under conservationist management systems. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects (19 years) of tillage (CT-conventional tillage and NT-no tillage) and crop rotations (R0-monoculture system, R1-winter crop rotation, and R2- intensive crop rotation) on total, particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon (C) stocks of an originally degraded Red Oxisol in Cruz Alta, RS, Southern Brazil. The climate is humid subtropical Cfa 2a (Köppen classification), the mean annual precipitation 1,774 mm and mean annual temperature 19.2 ºC. The plots were divided into four segments, of which each was sampled in the layers 0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20, and 0.20-0.30 m. Sampling was performed manually by opening small trenches. The SOM pools were determined by physical fractionation. Soil C stocks had a linear relationship with annual crop C inputs, regardless of the tillage systems. Thus, soil disturbance had a minor effect on SOM turnover. In the 0-0.30 m layer, soil C sequestration ranged from 0 to 0.51 Mg ha-1 yr-1, using the CT R0 treatment as base-line; crop rotation systems had more influence on soil stock C than tillage systems. The mean C sequestration rate of the cropping systems was 0.13 Mg ha-1 yr-1 higher in NT than CT. This result was associated to the higher C input by crops due to the improvement in soil quality under long-term no-tillage. The particulate C fraction was a sensitive indicator of soil management quality, while mineral-associated organic C was the main pool of atmospheric C fixed in this clayey Oxisol. The C retention in this stable SOM fraction accounts for 81 and 89 % of total C sequestration in the treatments NT R1 and NT R2, respectively, in relation to the same cropping systems under CT. The highest C management index was observed in NT R2, confirming the capacity of this soil management practice to improve the soil C stock qualitatively in relation to CT R0. The results highlighted the diversification of crop rotation with cover crops as a crucial strategy for atmospheric C-CO2 sequestration and SOM quality improvement in highly weathered subtropical Oxisols.


jpa ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. B. Hesterman ◽  
F. J. Pierce ◽  
E. C. Rossman

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1276
Author(s):  
Vaida Steponavičienė ◽  
Aušra Marcinkevičienė ◽  
Lina Marija Butkevičienė ◽  
Lina Skinulienė ◽  
Vaclovas Bogužas

The composition of weed communities in agricultural crops is dependent on soil properties and the applied agronomic practices. The current study determined the effect of different tillage systems and crop residue on the soil weed community composition. The research programme encompassed 2013–2015 in a long-term field experiment located in the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. The soil type in the experimental field was qualified as Endocalcaric Stagnosol (Aric, Drainic, Ruptic, Amphisiltic). Weeds were categorised into communities according to soil pH, nitrogen and moisture indicators. The results of investigations were grouped using cluster analysis. Agricultural crops were dominated by different weed species depending on the soil pH and moisture. Weed species were relatively more frequent indicating nitrogen-rich and very nitrogen-rich soils. In the reduced tillage and no-tillage systems, an increase in the abundance of weed species indicating moderate acidity and low acidity, moderately wet and wet, nitrogen-rich and very nitrogen-rich soils was observed. The application of plant residues decreased the weed species abundance. In the reduced tillage and no-tillage systems, the quantitative distribution of weed was often uneven. By evaluating the association of weed communities with groups of different tillage systems with or without plant residues, their control can be optimised.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arminda Moreira de Carvalho ◽  
Luana Ramos Passos Ribeiro ◽  
Robélio Leandro Marchão ◽  
Alexsandra Duarte de Oliveira ◽  
Karina Pulrolnik ◽  
...  

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 650
Author(s):  
Jesús Aguilera-Huertas ◽  
Beatriz Lozano-García ◽  
Manuel González-Rosado ◽  
Luis Parras-Alcántara

The short- and medium—long-term effects of management and hillside position on soil organic carbon (SOC) changes were studied in a centenary Mediterranean rainfed olive grove. One way to measure these changes is to analyze the soil quality, as it assesses soil degradation degree and attempts to identify management practices for sustainable soil use. In this context, the SOC stratification index (SR-COS) is one of the best indicators of soil quality to assess the degradation degree from SOC content without analyzing other soil properties. The SR-SOC was calculated in soil profiles (horizon-by-horizon) to identify the best soil management practices for sustainable use. The following time periods and soil management combinations were tested: (i) in the medium‒long-term (17 years) from conventional tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT), (ii) in the short-term (2 years) from CT to no-tillage with cover crops (NT-CC), and (iii) the effect in the short-term (from CT to NT-CC) of different topographic positions along a hillside. The results indicate that the SR-SOC increased with depth for all management practices. The SR-SOC ranged from 1.21 to 1.73 in CT0, from 1.48 to 3.01 in CT1, from 1.15 to 2.48 in CT2, from 1.22 to 2.39 in NT-CC and from 0.98 to 4.16 in NT; therefore, the soil quality from the SR-SOC index was not directly linked to the increase or loss of SOC along the soil profile. This demonstrates the time-variability of SR-SOC and that NT improves soil quality in the long-term.


1985 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
T. Chapman

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