ABSTRACT
Abstract Water infiltration into soil varies significantly with soil type and management practices. Management practices alter soil physical properties, such as porosity and pore size distribution, which play an important role in infiltration. This study was conducted to assess the effect of the long-term use of two different soil tillage systems (conventional, CT, and no-tillage, NT) on soil structure and water infiltration to understanding of the relationship between physical conditions induced by tillage and water infiltration. The experiments were carried out on a Humic Cambisol in southern Brazil from 1995 to 2016. Soil density, porosity, aggregate diameter and soil water infiltration were evaluated under conventional tillage right after one plowing and two subsequent discings (CT0), and six months after these tillage operations (CT6). The results show that different management systems affect differently soil physical properties and, thus, water infiltration. By mechanical mobilization CT brings about modifications in soil structure which promote an increase in total porosity and mesopority, and a decrease in soil microporosity. This in turn results in an increase in the proportion of larger pores in the plow layer and a decrease in soil density, but also in a decrease in aggregate stability. The CT0 measurements showed the highest infiltration rates which were up to 15 times greater than in the NT treatment. The higher infiltration rate in CT0 wears off with time, but in the CT6 measurements six months after tillage it was still 2 times higher than under NT. Tillage, at least initially, increases total porosity and mesoporosity, while at the same time decreasing microporosity. This results in a larger saturated hydraulic conductivity (K). An increase in total porosity alone does not necessarily increase K, if there is an increase in small pores at the cost of decreasing the number of larger pores.
ABSTRACT
Abstract Improper management degrades the soil, decreases corn productivity and is reflected in the cost of production. The objective of this research was to evaluate the soil recovery in non-conservationist treatments after the change of management and cultivation to the conservation condition direct sowing, and compare these systems to consolidated direct seeding; This evaluation was based on the soil responsiveness to crop production and water erosion control, and based on the financial cost of soil recovery and corn production when soil management was converted from non-conservationist (tillage rotation - RT, minimum tillage - MT, conventional tillage - CT and bare soil - BS) to no-tillage (NT) condition, in a Humic Cambisol. The transition from managements to no-tillage occurred in 2015 year, after 27 years of conducting the preexisting managements. The chemical recovery was carried out with the application of limestone, phosphorus, and potassium. At the end of the research the yield of the corn crop, the cost of recovering the soil fertility and the cost of crop production were evaluated. Previous soil management influenced the cost of soil chemical recovery. The cost of production showed a financial loss for the previous treatments CT and BS, on the average of the three corn crops.