Soil physical indicators of management systems in traditional agricultural areas under manure application

Abstract

Studies of the successive application of manure as fertilizer and its combined effect with long-term soil management systems are important to the identification of the interdependence of physical attributes. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the physical properties of a Rhodic Kandiudox under management systems employing successive applications of pig slurry and poultry litter, and select physical indicators that distinguish these systems using canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). The systems consisting of treatments including land use, management and the application time of organic fertilizers are described as follows: silage maize under no-tillage (NT-M7 years); silage maize under conventional tillage (CT-M20 years); annual pasture with chisel plowing (CP-P3 years); annual pasture with chisel plowing (CP-P15 years); perennial pasture without tillage (NT-PP20 years); and no-tillage yerba mate (NT-YM20 years) and were compared with native forest (NF) and native pasture (NP). Soil samples were collected from the layers at the following depths: 0.0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.20 m, and were analyzed for bulk density, porosity, aggregation, flocculation, penetration resistance, water availability and total clay content. Canonical discriminant analysis was an important tool in the study of physical indicators of soil quality. Organic fertilization, along with soil management, influences soil structure and its porosity. Total porosity was the most important physical property in the distinction of areas with management systems and application times of manure for the 0.0-0.05 and 0.10-0.20 m layers. Soil aeration and micropores differentiated areas in the 0.05-0.10 m layer. Animal trampling and machinery traffic were the main factors inducing compaction of this clayey soil.

Impact of pig slurry application on soil and water losses: Comparison with a historical series

“…Based on the mean of the crops, the content of P in NT and MT was, respectively, 4.1 and 2.8 times higher than in CT. The increase of P concentration in the soil with the use of PS occurs with the passage of time as reported by Rauber et al (2018), who found a high concentration of P along the soil profile after the continuous application of PS over seven years, and over eight years as reported by Dal Bosco et al (2008).…”

Increased quality of small-scale organic compost with the addition of efficient microorganisms

“…It should be noted that the main effect of organic fertilizers is not to enrich the soil, but rather make nutrients available slowly and continuously, which is typical of organic fertilizers produced by composting. Among other factors, they can contribute to improving soil structure by increasing porosity and gas exchange, stabilizing organic matter, and increasing microbial diversity (Rauber et al, 2018), all of which contribute to nutrient mobilization for plants. Furthermore, inoculation of microorganisms such as EMs contributes to the degradation of toxic agents (Boechat et al, 2020;Dell' Anno et al, 2020), and the control of plant pathogens (Shen et al, 2013;Alori et al, 2017;Benedetti et al, 2021).…”

Soil carbon and physical-mechanical properties after successive applications of swine and poultry organic waste

“…Additionally, soil physical properties (i.e., soil density, porosity and aggregation) may change with the application of swine manure and poultry litter (Andrade et al 2016, Bosch-Serra et al 2017, Rauber et al 2018. However, few studies have investigated the effects of such organic waste on the soil mechanical properties (i.e., penetration resistance, preconsolidation pressure and compression ratio) and its relationship with the organic carbon content, especially for a long period of time, hence requiring a greater attention from agricultural researchers.…”