Structure of highly weathered soils cultivated under no-tillage system

Author(s)

Márcio Renato Nunes

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2018-03-09

Examining board members

Paulo Leonel Libardi; Miguel Cooper; José Eloir Denardin; Sergio Oliveira Moraes; Carlos Manoel Pedro Vaz

• Advisor: Paulo Leonel Libardi

Abstract

The economic development of Brazil depends upon the increasing agricultural production associated with conservation practices. The no-tillage system is the soil management practice that brings together the broadest set of principles for conservation agriculture. Areas under no-till system, however, generally have two completely different soils layers: a surface layer, around 0 to 7 cm, with physical and chemical conditions favorable for root development; and a sub-surface layer, around 7 to 20 cm, with lower permeability to air and water, high soil penetration resistance, and low soil fertility. The existence of these stratified layers dramatically restricts the development of the root system into the sub-surface soil layer, which may result in reducing plant productivity by water deficit. This problem exists on more than 30 million hectares cultivated under no-tillage system in Brazil, and can compromise the optimistic projections of agricultural growth in the country. Therefore, more research is necessary to explore challenges that come with no-tillage. The aim of this thesis was to study the factors that can promote the physical and chemical stratification of highly weathered soils cultivated under no-till system. Among the factors that could cause this degradation, the following were studied: i) the application of excessive lime only on surface soil, or into the uppermost soil layer, which can increase its pH to levels beyond of the zero point of charge of soil, raising its electronegative potential and promoting, as a consequence, the clay dispersion; ii) the dispersed clay migration thtough the soil profile, by the percolation water, as a factor of physical degradation of sub-surface of soil cultiveted under no-tillage; and iii) the aplication of phytomass to the soil in insufficient amount and quality to maintain the soil structural stability of the soil. The results of this study showed that lime movement into the deeper soil profile, is very slow, as its impacts are limited to just a few centimeters below of where it is applied or incorporated (2.5 cm after 130 weeks), independent of the applied amount of lime. Thus, the surface lime application intensifies the chemical stratification of the clayey soils under no-tillage, increasing to much the soil pH of the uppermost soil layer, and being inefficient to decrease the soil acidity in the subsurface soil layer. The concentration of lime into the uppermost soil layer can significantly increase the electronegativity of the soil system and result in clay dispersion in the topsoil layer (0 to 5 cm). The resulting clay migration into the soil profile led to a series of structural alterations in subsurface layers, including: decrease of both soil porosity and pore continuity; and increase of both soil bulk density and soil penetration resistance in the sub-superficial layer. The structural stability decreasing of Oxisols under no-till system also is linked with the low addition of organic matter to the cultivated soil, in relation to the non-cultivated soils. The kaolinitic Oxisols are more susceptible to degradation than the gibbsitic Oxisols. Thus, it could be conclude that liming practices (rate and application methods of lime), mainly under no-till systems, need to consider both type and mineralogy of soil, as well as considering soil structure degradation promoted by over-liming in the uppermost soil layer. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/12934-3 - Factors of structural degradation in clayey soils under "no-tillage"
• Grantee: Márcio Renato Nunes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate