Soil health response to sugarcane straw removal in Brazil

Autor(es):Mostrar menos -

Cherubin, Mauricio R. ^[1] ; Bordonal, Ricardo O. ; Castioni, Guilherme A. ; Guimaraes, Euriana M. ; Lisboa, Izaias P. ^[1] ; Moraes, Lucas A. A. ^[2] ; Menandro, Lauren M. S. ^[3] ; Tenelli, Sarah ^[3] ; Cerri, Carlos E. P. ^[1] ; Karlen, Douglas L. ^{[4, 5]} ; Carvalho, Joao L. N.

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo ESALQ USP, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr, 11 Padua Dias Ave, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Londrina State Univ UEL, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, BR-86057970 Londrina, PR - Brazil

^[3] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Interdisciplinary PhD Program Bioenergy, Rua Monteiro Lobato 80, Cidade Univ, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[4] Agr Res Serv ARS, USDA, Washington, DC - USA

^[5] DL Karlen Consulting LLC, 487 Ashland Ave, St Paul, MN 55102 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS; v. 163, MAY 2021.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

Sugarcane straw removal is a promising strategy to increase bioenergy production in Brazil. However, if straw removal is not properly managed, it may lead to soil health degradation, thus threatening sustainability of the entire bioenergy production system. In this context, a comprehensive assessment was conducted in 12 field experiments located in central-southern Brazil, the world?s largest sugarcane-producing region, to investigate the impacts of straw removal scenarios on soil health, using the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF). Two groups of experiments were arranged in this study, consisting of three (no?NR; moderate?MR; and total removal?TR) and four straw removal treatments (NR; low?LR; high?HR; and TR). Soil samples were collected (0?10 and 10-20 cm) to evaluate a selected set of soil health indicators (i.e., pH, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, bulk density and soil organic carbon). Indicators were individually scored and then integrated into an overall Soil Health Index (SHI) and its chemical, physical, and biological components. Datasets were analyzed by site, experiment groups and soil texture (clayey and sandy soils) and the relationships among straw removal, soil health, and sugarcane yield were also investigated. Our findings showed that soil health responses to straw removal were properly detected by SMAF scoring curves. Based on SHI, sandy and clayey soils were functioning at 41?56% and 67?86% of their full potential, respectively. Soil health degradation was mostly induced by TR and HR, while LR and MR resulted in minimal detrimental effects on a short-term basis compared with NR. However, sandy soils were more prone to soil health degradation, indicating that straw removal should be avoided on those soils. For clayey soils, decline in soil health was driven by physical degradation. Healthier soils were associated with higher sugarcane stalk yields, and physical degradation was the main driver for crop yield losses. Conclusions drawn from this study suggest that comprehensive soil health assessments by integrating chemical, physical and biological indicators are fundamental to design more sustainable straw management and bioenergy production systems in Brazil. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 18/09845-7 - Implicações da expansão e intensificação do cultivo da cana-de-açúcar nos serviços ecossistêmicos do solo
• Beneficiário: Maurício Roberto Cherubin
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 17/23978-7 - Dinâmica do carbono do solo e balanço de gases de efeito estufa: implicações da remoção da palha de cana-de-açúcar para produção de bioenergia
• Beneficiário: Ricardo de Oliveira Bordonal
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular