The conversion of native grassland into farmland causes changes in the soil. Tillage has profound effects on soil organic matter. The intensification of soil tillage decreases soil quality by reducing aggregate stability. Soil aggregate stability and soil organic matter are key indicators for soil quality and environmental sustainability in agro-ecosystems. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the total organic carbon content and the physical and chemical fractions of the organic matter in a soil under different uses and types of management over 27 years. Four soil tillage treatments with two annual crops were evaluated (no-tillage, NT; rotating tillage, RT; minimum tillage, MT; and conventional tillage, CT), as well as bare soil (BS) (standard plot of the Universal Soil Loss Equation-USLE) and natural grassland (NG) as a reference area. The experiment was carried out in an Inceptisol (Cambissolos) in southern Brazil. We determined total organic carbon (TOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC), and organic carbon associated with soil minerals (OCam). The chemical fractionation of carbon was into fulvic and humic acids, and humin. In addition, soil aggregates were divided into five size classes. The type of soil tillage affected the soil organic carbon content, namely TOC, POC, and OCam, as well as the composition of the physical and chemical fractions and their distribution in the arable soil layer. There was a positive relationship between stable aggregates and organic carbon in the soil: the higher the proportion of aggregates in class 1, the higher the organic carbon content. The results support the hypothesis that the carbon stock depends on intensification of a conservation tillage system with a continuous input of C through biomass, which maintains and supplies a continuous flow of C to the carbon transformation processes in the soil.

The objective of this work was to evaluate corn agronomic traits in a cultivation subjected to different N rates, during the fall-winter (off-season) and spring-summer crop seasons, and N recovery from fertilizer. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design with four replicates, in a 5x2 factorial arrangement, with the following treatments: five N topdressing rates -0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 kg ha -1 -, using urea as source; and two crop seasons, fall-winter and spring-summer. The following variables were determined: plant height, height of the first ear insertion, number of grains per ear, diameter and length of ear, 1,000-grain weight, N concentration in the leaves and grains, grain-protein concentration, grain yield, N recovery from fertilizer, and soil-N supply. Nitrogen rates in the fertilizer in the fall-winter season had no effect on grain yield, although corn agronomic traits showed a greater reliance on fertilizer-N rates in that season than in the spring-summer, which is a season associated to a greater capacity of soil-N supply to plants. The quantification of soil-N supply enabled knowing the nutrient dynamics during the fall-winter and the spring-summer seasons, which may be useful to guide N fertilization of corn. Características agronômicas do milho e recuperação de nitrogênio do fertilizante durante a safra e a safrinhaResumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar características agronômicas do milho em um cultivo submetido a diferentes doses de N, nas safras de outono-inverno (safrinha) e primavera-verão, e a recuperação do N do fertilizante. O experimento foi disposto em blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em arranjo fatorial 5x2, com os seguintes tratamentos: cinco doses de N em cobertura -0, 30, 60, 90 e 120 kg ha -1 -, com uso de ureia como fonte; e duas estações de cultivo, outono-inverno e primavera-verão. As seguintes variáveis foram determinadas: altura de planta, altura da inserção da primeira espiga, número de grãos por espiga, diâmetro e comprimento da espiga, massa de 1.000 grãos, concentração de N nas folhas e nos grãos, concentração de proteína nos grãos, produtividade de grãos, recuperação de N do fertilizante e suprimento de N pelo solo. As taxas de N do fertilizante na estação outono-inverno não influenciaram a produtividade de grãos, embora as características agronômicas do milho tenham apresentado maior dependência do N do fertilizante naquela estação do que na primavera-verão, que é uma estação associada a uma maior capacidade do solo de fornecer N para as plantas. A quantificação do suprimento de N pelo solo permitiu saber a dinâmica do nutriente durante a safrinha e a safra de primavera-verão, o que pode ser útil para guiar a fertilização nitrogenada do milho.Termos para indexação: Zea mays, manejo da adubação nitrogenada, nutrição de plantas, fertilidade do solo, suprimento de N pelo solo.

O dejeto de suíno (DLS) é usado como fertilizante cujos nutrientes são perdidos por erosão e contaminam o ambiente se o dejeto é usado inadequadamente. Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito de DLS no solo e na erosão, num Nitossolo Bruno. Os tratamentos, 0; 50; 100; e 200 m³ ha-1 de DLS foram aplicados superficialmente após a semeadura uma vez em cada um dos cinco cultivos, e na palhada do último cultivo, totalizando 0, 250, 500 e 1000 m³ ha-1, na aveia (Avena strigosa), milho (Zea mays), nabo (Raphanus sativus L.) e soja (Glycine max), e nos resíduos de aveia. A chuva simulada (65 mm h-1 e 75 minutos) foi aplicada três vezes no milho e quatro vezes no nabo, na soja, e nos resíduos, com um simulador de braços rotativos. Antes e depois da pesquisa, determinou-se o teor de K, Ca e Mg no solo. As chuvas aplicadas em cada momento compuseram um teste (T). O T1 ocorreu após a aplicação do DLS e os demais testes em intervalos que variaram entre 14 e 70 dias, em função do clima. Durante o escoamento, em intervalos de cinco minutos coletaram-se amostras de enxurrada para determinar as perdas de água e o teor de K, Ca e Mg na água. O DLS não influenciou o teor dos nutrientes no solo. O teor e as perdas totais dos nutrientes foram maiores com 1000 m3 ha-1 de DLS do que na ausência do dejeto. Com o aumento de escoamento, diminuiu o teor na enxurrada e aumentou a perda total, a qual aumentou também com o aumento de teor dos nutrientes na enxurrada. Recomenda-se aplicar menos do que 500 m3 ha-1 de DLS total no solo, mesmo em aplicações intervalares, devido à elevada perda de K, Ca e Mg pela erosão hídrica.

Runoff in agricultural areas with intensive application of pig slurry can transport significant amounts of nutrients. This study evaluates the effects of different pig slurry (PS) application rates (0, 50, 100, and 200 m 3 ha-1) on nutrient loss through runoff during soybean cultivation under no-tillage. It was conducted at two sites in southern Brazil, one on an Alfisol (27° 43' south and 50° 3' west) and one on an Inceptisol (27° 47' south and 50° 18' west). The PS was applied to the soil once at the beginning of the soybean cycle. Each plot was 11 m long in the direction of the slope and 3.5 m wide. To induce runoff, artificial rainfall was applied in four different tests (T1, T2, T3, T4), with an intensity of 65 mm h-1 for 90 minutes. The first test was performed one day after PS application, while the other tests were performed throughout the soybean cycle. During each test, runoff samples were collected at 10-min intervals after the beginning of runoff. The runoff amount and the NO 3-, NH 4 + , P, and K + concentrations in the runoff were measured. In T1, nutrient transport from the Alfisol and the Inceptisol increased with increasing PS doses. In some cases, this effect was still noticeable in T2 and T3, but not in the last test (T4). The transported amounts of NO 3-, NH 4 + , P, and K + decreased as the period between PS application and simulated rainfall increased. Regardless of the soil and the treatment, NO 3 was transported in the greatest quantities, followed by K + , NH 4 + , and P.

The objective of this work was to determine adjustment parameters for the revised universal soil loss equation (Rusle) of a soil subjected to pig slurry application. Treatments consisted of 0, 50, 100, and 200 m3 ha-1 pig slurry (PS), after the cultivation of black oat (Avena strigosa), besides the application of 50 m3 ha-1 PS for six times onto the soil surface in a temporal sequence, and a control treatment of soil without cultivation and without pig slurry application. The evaluations were performed for black oat shoot dry mass, root mass and crop residues semi-incorporated into the soil (RMR), soil losses by means of simulated rain, and the parameters for water erosion modeling. The pig slurry application onto soil surface caused a reduction in the values of the soil consolidation parameter (Cf), an increase in the mass of living and dead roots and cultural residues incorporated in the upper layer (0.0-0.1 m) of the soil (Bu), and a reduction in the subfactor prior land use (PLU) of the Rusle.