Gabriel Pinto Guimarães

Soil aggregation and organic carbon of Oxisols under coffee in agroforestry systems

Intensive land use can lead to a loss of soil physical quality with negative impacts on soil aggregates, resistance to root penetration, porosity, and bulk density. Organic and agroforestry management systems can represent sustainable, well-balanced alternatives in the agroecosystem for promoting a greater input of organic matter than the conventional system. Based on the hypothesis that an increased input of organic matter improves soil physical quality, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of coffee production systems on soil physical properties in two Red-Yellow Oxisols (Latossolos Vermelho-Amarelos) in the region of Caparao, Espirito Santo, Brazil. On Farm 1, we evaluated the following systems: primary forest (Pf1), organic coffee (Org1) and conventional coffee (Con1). On Farm 2, we evaluated: secondary forest (Sf2), organic coffee intercropped with inga (Org/In2), organic coffee intercropped with leucaena and inga (Org/In/Le2), organic coffee intercropped with cedar (Org/Ced2) and unshaded conventional coffee (Con2). Soil samples were collected under the tree canopy from the 0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm soil layers. Under organic and agroforestry coffee management, soil aggregation was higher than under conventional coffee. In the agroforestry system, the degree of soil flocculation was 24 % higher, soil moisture was 80 % higher, and soil resistance to penetration was lower than in soil under conventional coffee management. The macroaggregates in the organic systems, Org/In2, Org/In/Le2, and Org/Ced2 contained, on average, 29.1, 40.1 and 34.7 g kg-1 organic carbon, respectively. These levels are higher than those found in the unshaded conventional system (Con2), with 20.2 g kg-1.

Desenvolvimento de hortaliças e atributos do solo com adubação verde e compostos orgânicos sob níveis de N

Development of vegetables and soil characteristics after green manuring and organic composts under levels of N In organic farming systems, the proper management of organic manure and nitrogen cycling strategies are very important to improve soil fertility and increase productivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the green manure in pre-cropping, associated with organic compost with different nitrogen levels, on soil chemical properties and yield of cabbage and green corn crops in succession, from 2009 to 2012. The experimental design was a randomized blocks design in a split-plot with three replications. The plots consisted of two treatments (with and without leguminous) and the subplots consisted of five treatments with fertilization systems based on compost of different nitrogen levels: 1) Unfertilized (control); 2) Compost with 1.5% N; 3) Compost with 2.0% N; 4) Compost with 2.5% N; 5) Compost with 3% N. Green manuring with leguminous in pre-crops improved crop development cabbage and green corn, increased the levels of P and H + Al and reduced the levels of K, Mg and soil pH. The calcium content, sum of bases, cations exchange capacity and soil organic matter were not modified by green manuring. The fertilization with organic compost with higher levels of N provided elevations in the levels of P, K, Mg and T linearly and soil organic matter in a quadratic model. Plants fertilized with organic composts of higher levels of N increased the commercial yields in 92.4% for cabbage and 23.1% for green corn. Green manure, when associated with composts with 3% N, increased cabbage yield by 19.2% and the green corn on 4.5%.

Qualidade da matéria orgânica de solos sob cultivo de café consórciado com adubos verdes

The input of organic residues associated with the humification process promotes improvement of soil properties and enables the sustainability of the production system. Aside from supplying the coffee with nutrients, pulse crops can improve the quality of soil organic matter by forming humic substances. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of green manures legumes on the quality of humic substances in soils under coffee under two environmental conditions in the region of Zona da Mata, in Minas Gerais. The species forage peanut, calopo, stylosanthes, velvetbean and spontaneous species were grown for four years on two family farms. After four years, soil was sampled and the humic substances were extracted and purified to obtain fulvic acids (FA) and humic acids (HA). The elemental sample composition (CHNO analyzer), UV-visible, infrared and thermogravimetry of the purified material were analyzed. The results showed that HA have a higher molecular weight, hydrophobicity, condensation, and aromatic compounds with higher C content, providing greater structural stability than FA. The humic substances in the environment facing south, with lower light incidence, lower temperatures and higher humidity, were structurally more stable and decay-resistant than the humic substances extracted from soil northwest-oriented soil surfaces. In the treatment with calopo, FA contained low C and high O levels, characterizing compounds of lower structural stability than FA in the treatments with stylosanthes, velvetbean and spontaneous species. In HA, the use of legumes showed similar results.