This chapter provided an overview of the physical properties of soils and their importance on the mobility of water and nutrients and the development of a vegetation cover. It also gives some examples of why the use of agricultural residues can affect positively soil physical properties. The incorporation of agricultural wastes can be a sustainable practice to improve soil characteristics, favoring a model of zero waste in agricultural production and allowing better management of soils. We review and analyze the effect of the use as amendments of different agricultural residues, on physical properties of the soil (e.g., bulk density, porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity), especially related to the movement of water in the soil.
The soil has lost organic matter in the past centuries. Adding organic matter to soils is one of the management practices applied to recover the levels of soil carbon of the past and to improve soil properties. Is it a good practice to reduce global warming? In fact, one of the practices promoted to combat climate change is increasing soil organic matter. However, the addition of organic residues to the soil could facilitate the liberation of CO2 and wastes could also have no positive effects on soil properties (i.e., pollution). In this sense, what it is important is: (a) to know which is the expected effect of the organic matter added to the soil; (b) how this application alters the soil processes; (c) which are the management practices that should be applied; (d) how much is the real amount of carbon sequester by the soil and; (e) the balance at short and long period after the application of the organic matter. The adequate strategy should be to favour the increment of biologically stabilized soil organic matter considering medium and long time. However, it is necessary to adapt the strategies to the local environmental conditions.
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