Deep furrow and additional liming for coffee cultivation under first year in a naturally dense inceptisol

Changes in soil profile hydraulic properties and porosity as affected by deep tillage soil preparation and Brachiaria grass intercropping in a recent coffee plantation on a naturally dense Inceptisol

“…1). The physiographic region is defined as Campo das Vertentes, the native vegetation including rupestrian fields consisting mainly of grasses of various sizes (Barbosa et al, 2020). Natural fires are common, which reduce plant cover.…”

“…The study area occupies 240 m 2 (24 × 10 m), located in gently rolling relief, maximum 12 % slope gradient and soil organic matter varying 9 to 23 g kg − 1 in the surface and subsurface horizons, respectively (Barbosa et al, 2020). Previously this area was occupied by degraded pasture.…”

“…This study was conducted within a more complex experimental area, completely described in Barbosa et al (2020). Our experiment derived from this larger area was designed as randomized complete blocks with three replicates.…”

“…In addition, these soils are well represented and widely cultivated with coffee trees in the physiographic zone of Campos das Vertentes, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, which ranks as the country's largest coffee producer (Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB), 2017; Barbosa et al, 2020). In this region, Inceptisols usually occur in rougher reliefs and are naturally dense, with shallow solum, thus hindering root growth at deeper soil layers.…”

“…However, in spite of the increasing adoption of Brachiaria intercropped with coffee (Serafim et al, 2013a(Serafim et al, , 2013b, very scarce information exists on its effects on soil hydraulic properties when combined with subsoiling operations during coffee plots installation. As soil water availability to coffee plants is strongly dependent on soil physical attributes (Kahlon et al, 2013;Silva et al, 2015Silva et al, , 2017Silva et al, 2018Silva et al, , 2019Barbosa et al, 2020), understanding how different management practices may affect water infiltration, redistribution and storage processes in soils is key for crop development in coffee plantations.…”