Thomé Lovato

Atributos físicos do solo em sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária sob plantio direto

Soil compaction is one of the most important reasons for decrease in crop yield. The impact of animal trampling on integrated beef cattle raising-crop production systems were studied to evaluate the changes in soil physical properties (bulk density, porosity, soil resistance to penetration and soil water infiltration). The field experiment was carried out in Jari, in the mid- plateau region of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Three management systems of winter pastures (black oat; Avena strigosa Schreber + ryegrass; Lolium multiflorum Lam.) were studied under different grazing frequencies: (1) No grazing (NG), (2) grazing every 28 days (G28) and (3) grazing every fourteen days (G14). The summer crops soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) or corn (Zea mays L.), as antecedent crop in rotation to the winter pastures, were also studied to measure the increasing or decreasing effects on compaction by animal trampling. The greatest effects of animal trampling were concentrated in the top soil layer (0 to 0.05 m), but under the highest grazing frequency (G14) macroporosity was reduced down to the 0.10-0.15 m layer. The soil resistance to penetration had peaks of 2.61 and 2.49 MPa in the G28 and G14 treatments, respectively, in the 0.05-0.08 layer. In the ungrazed areas the values remained lower, around 1.66 MPa. Soil water infiltration was significantly affected by animal trampling and by the previous summer crop. In the case of corn area, the soil was less sensitive to cattle trampling, unlike in the areas following soybean, where the highest grazing frequency (G14) reduced the water infiltration rates. Soybean induced higher values of macroporosity in the evaluated soil layers; when related with lower beef cattle density or ungrazed pastures, the rates of water infiltration and accumulated infiltration were higher.

Adição de carbono e nitrogênio e sua relação com os estoques no solo e com o rendimento do milho em sistemas de manejo

Long-term experiments are essential for research about organic matter dynamics of soils. This paper reports results of an experiment installed in September 1985 on a Paleudult soil degraded under inadequate management for 16 years. The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in Eldorado do Sul county. Three soil tillage methods (conventional tillage-CT, reduced tillage-RT and no-tillage-NT), three crop systems (oat/corn-O/C, vetch/corn-V/C and oat + vetch/corn + cowpea-O + V/C + Cp), and two N rates applied to corn as urea (0 and 139 kg ha-1) were tested. A split-plot design arranged in randomized blocks with three replications was used with soil tillage as main plot, the cropping systems as sub-plots and nitrogen rates as sub-blocks. Carbon and nitrogen addition by crops was estimated for the experimental period of 13 years. In September 1998, the soil was sampled in six layers down to 0.30 m depth, and total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents were determined in each layer and then calculated for the 0-0.175 m and 0.175-0.30 m layers. Legumes were responsible for the greatest annual soil C and N increase by crops (4.17 to 8.39 Mg ha-1 and -21 to 178 kg ha-1, respectively). The highest C and N additions were positively related to these elements stocks in the soil under NT (0-0.175 m layer), and promoted gradual corn yield increase in all soil tillage treatments. The annual rate of C addition (A) necessary to maintain de initial condition (dC/dt = zero) was estimated at 4.2 Mg ha-1 for NT, 7.3 Mg ha-1 for RT and 8.9 Mg ha-1 for CT. Similarly, the annual rate of N addition required to maintain the initial condition (dN/dt = zero) was 5 kg ha-1 for NT, 31 kg ha-1 for RT, and 94 kg ha-1 for CT. An estimation by the angular coefficient of the linear regression, which relates the annual C addition rates and annual TOC stock variation in the surface layer, calculated that 12.9 % for NT, 8.1 % for RT, and 11.5 % for CT of the C added to the soil was retained in the soil organic matter, representing approximately the humification coefficient (k1). Likewise, it was estimated that 49.7 % of the net annual N addition under NT, 21.0 % under RT, and 33.1 % under CT was retained as TN in the soil. The TOC loss coefficient from the soil (k2), calculated for the condition dC/dt = zero, was 0.0166 yr-1 under NT, 0.0182 yr-1 under RT, and 0.0314 yr-1 under CT. No-tillage systems with the reduction of TOC loss (k2), and legume based crop systems with the high C and N additions are good alternatives to recover the soil TOC and TN stocks and increase corn yield in the subtropical region of southern Brazil.

Fixação de nitrogênio e produção de ácido indolacético in vitro por bactérias diazotróficas endofíticas

O objetivo deste trabalho foi isolar e quantificar bacterias diazotroficas associadas a raizes de arroz, e avaliar a producao de acido indolacetico e o potencial de fixacao biologica de nitrogenio dessas bacterias, a fim de selecionar isolados promissores para inoculacao em plantas. Bacterias fixadoras de nitrogenio, habitantes do interior das raizes de cultivares de arroz do Rio Grande do Sul, foram isoladas e quantificadas em nove cultivares. Raizes de arroz superficialmente esterilizadas foram maceradas e introduzidas em meios de crescimento, elaborados sem fonte de nitrogenio e em condicoes semi-solidas. Entre os 58 isolados nos meios NFb, LGI e LGI-P, foram escolhidos UFSM-BD-02-06, UFSM-BD-08-06, UFSM-BD-14-06, UFSM-BD-20-06, UFSM-BD-26-06, UFSM-BD-31-06, UFSM-BD-36-06, UFSM-BD-42-06, UFSM-BD-48-06, UFSM-BD-54-06. Avaliaram-se a fixacao biologica de nitrogenio e a producao de acido indolacetico in vitro, pelos metodos Kjeldahl e colorimetrico, respectivamente. Azospirillum brasilense e A. lipoferum apresentam maiores valores para N total, 41,08 e 46,82 µg mL-1, respectivamente. A. brasilense e UFSM-BD-31-06 sao os maiores produtores de acido indolacetico, 41,09 mg mL-1 e 13,47 µg mL-1, respectivamente.

Balanço do carbono orgânico no solo sob integração lavoura-pecuária no sul do Brasil

In southern Brazil, crop-livestock integration is increasing in areas traditionally used for extensive beef cattle production. The poor winter pasture management associated to the use of soybean monoculture in the summer may be restrictive for the incorporation of plant residues into the soil and reduce soil organic carbon stocks. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the increase of winter pasture grazing frequencies and summer crop systems on the soil organic C stock. The experiment was carried out for four years under no-tillage and the experiment had a randomized block design and a 3 x 3 bifactorial arrangement with four replications. Factor A consisted of three grazing intervals in the winter: No grazing (NG), Grazing every 28 days (G28) and Grazing every 14 days (G14); and factor B consisted of three summer-cropping systems: Soybean monoculture (Mon-S), Corn monoculture (Mon-C) and annual soybean-corn rotation (Rot-S/C). The addition of C to the soil through plant residues and the soil organic C stock were quantified by the methodologies of equivalent soil layer and equivalent soil mass. The increase of the grazing frequencies reduced the C input by winter forages from 5.3 Mg ha-1 in treatment NG, to 1.7 and 1.3 Mg ha-1 in the treatments G28 and G14, respectively. Corn as summer crop resulted in the highest C input to the soil with a mean of 6.0 Mg ha-1, while the soybean input was only 2.2 Mg ha-1. The soil organic C stock calculated by the equivalent soil layer method was overestimated in the treatments G14 and G28 and underestimated in treatment NG as compared to results obtained by the soil mass equivalent method, which was used to compare the management systems. The organic C stock in the layers 0-0.025, 0.025-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m had a linear relationship with the annual C supply through plants (winter pastures + summer crops), requiring an additional 4.48 Mg ha-1 year-1 to maintain the original organic C stock in the 0-0.10 m layer. The lower C supply through plant residues in the G14 treatment resulted in an estimated net C emission to the atmosphere (0.05 to 0.27 Mg ha-1 year-1 ), while the soil in treatment NG acted as an atmospheric C sink (0.19 to 0.30 Mg ha-1 year-1 ). In treatment G28, the soil performance as source or sink of atmospheric C was dependent on the summer crop type; A soil net C emission was verified under Mon-S (0.04 Mg ha-1 year-1 ) and a net C retention under Mon-C (0.15 Mg ha-1 year-1 ) and Rot-S/C (0.11 Mg ha-1 year-1 ). The longest intervals between winter grazing associated to corn in the summer contributed to increases in biomass and soil organic C accumulation.

RECOMENDAÇÃO DE ADUBAÇÃO NITROGENADA PARA TRIGO EM SUCESSÃO AO MILHO E SOJA SOB SISTEMA PLANTIO DIRETO NO PARAGUAI

Nitrogen is one of the nutrients wheat needs most, but is often not supplied neither in the right quantity nor at the right time. Because of the importance of nitrogen fertilization and the lack of information available in Paraguay, this study was developed to establish a nitrogen fertilizer recommendation for wheat under no-till. Six field experiments were carried out over a period of two years, in four Departments of Paraguay, considering the most important soils (Oxisols, Inceptisols and Ultisols) and regions (Alto Parana, Itapua, Amambay and Missiones). Five N rates (0, 30, 60 90, 120 kg ha-1) were applied to wheat (Triticum aestivum) after corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max), and the residual effect on wheat of N applied to the precedent corn crop was evaluated (0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg ha-1), in 5 x 8m plots, in a random block design with three replications. Economically, wheat after soybean responded positively to the N rate of 35 kg ha-1 with yields around 3.100 kg ha-1. After corn, wheat responded economically to doses of up to 30 kg ha-1 N and reached a grain yield of 2.100 kg ha-1. When the concentration of soil organic matter is higher than 4 %, a sufficient quantity of N is available without mineral N fertilization, for yields up to 2.500 kg ha-1. Wheat responded to residual N applied to corn with a yield increase from 1.800 kg ha-1 (0 kg ha-1) to 2.300 kg ha-1 (N applied to corn estimated at 213 kg ha-1, averaged across all sites).

Propriedades físicas do solo em área sob milho em monocultivo ou consorciado com leguminosas de verão

The use of cover crops is a practice that can improve the physical quality of soils. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of intercropping of summer legumes with maize to improve soil physical properties. The study was conducted in the field from September 2008 to September 2009, in an Ultisol in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with five treatments and four replications. The treatments consisted of the consortia: maize + cowpea, maize + dwarf pigeonpea, maize + velvet bean, monoculture maize, and a fallow area as control. Samples were collected from the soil layers 0-5 and 5-10 cm three times per plot (at the beginning of the experiment, 30 days after leaving the residues of each crop on the soil surface, and one year after the beginning of the experiment). We measured the following properties: soil bulk density, porosity, macro- and microporosity, and aggregate stability. All crops decreased bulk density and increased macroporosity and total porosity in the 0-5 cm soil, compared to the fallow area. The consortium of maize and pigeonpea increased the mean weighted diameter of aggregates in the 0-5 cm layer, compared to the fallow treatment, but this effect was temporary, and had disappeared by the last measurement. The intercropping of maize and dwarf pigeonpea was the most promising for improvements in the soil structure.

Fornecimento de nitrogênio por plantas de cobertura de inverno e de verão para o milho em sistema de plantio direto

A field experiment was carried out at the experimental area of the Soil Department, Federal University of Santa Maria, RS. Brazil, in a Yellow Redish soil, to evaluate the potential of Winter and Summer soil cover species to supply nitrogen to corn and the corn grain yield during 1992/93 to 1994/95 growing seasons. The Winter treatments were: (a) black oat (Avena strigosa) + common vetch (Vicia sativa) + 130kg ha-1 of mineral N for corn and b) blue Lupinus (Lupinus angustifolius) + 65kg ha-1 of mineral N for corn. The Summer treatments were: (a) gray mucuna (Stizolobium cinereum) and (b) pig bean (Canavalia ensiformis), seeded between corn rows about 100 days after corn seeding, with 65kg ha-1 of mineral N applied to corn. The control plots were Winter fallow without nitrogen for corn and Winter fallow with 130Kg.ha-1 of mineral N for corn. The Summer species accumulated the double of nitrogen in the biomass, with pig bean distinguishing over the gray mucuna, conparing to Winter species. The biomass of these Summer species and the corn, however, did not correspond to this superiority in relation to nitrogen accumulation. Corn grain yeld were 4927, 5191, 5405 and 4752kg ha-1 after Lupinus, mucuna, pig bean and uinter fallow + N, respectively. Those results demonstrates that the cover plants with half of mineral N fertilization reached yields similar to fallow +130kg ha-1 in the corn, which indicate the efficiency of these species in the fixation of atmospheric N2 and the partial supply of nitrogen to corn.

Adubação fosfatada para girassol sob sistema plantio direto no Paraguai

The area cultivated with sunflower had great expansion recently in Paraguay, but still does not have a phosphorus fertilization recommendation for the main production regions. The objective of this work was to elaborate a first recommendation of phosphorus fertilization for sunflower under no-till in Paraguay. Two experiments were carried out in Misiones and Itapua in the harvest 2006/2007, in a Latossolo and an Argissolo. For determination of the chemical attributes ten sub-samples were made, composing a soil sample per plot, collected in the 0-10 cm depth. Grain yield and the soil critical phosphorus (P) content were determined. The experimental design was in random blocks, with four repetitions. The treatments consisted of doses of P (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5), with triple superphosphate as source. For sunflower crop, the P critical content for the Latossolo (soils from 410 to 600 g clay kg-1, class 1) was 14.4 mg dm-3 and for the Argissolo (soils from 210 to 400 g clay kg-1, class 2), was 15.5 mg dm-3. Doses of P2O5 between 40 kg ha-1 and 80 kg ha-1 were enough to overcome 2.000 kg ha-1 of grains yield; being the largest doses for the soil with higher clay and low phosphorus content.