CURVA DE RETENÇÃO DE ÁGUA NO SOLO EM FUNÇÃO DO TIPO DE MANEJO MECANIZADO DO SOLO E TEMPO DE PREPARO

Abstract

The agricultural practice where no-tillage is carried out continuously can lead to changes in soil structure, such as increased density, especially in clayey soils. These changes, related to soil management, can be evaluated through physical and water attributes. With the soil-water retention curve it is possible to have information about the available water capacity, water that is not available and the maximum water capacity, in addition to the distribution of pores along the soil profile. These informations are essential for water management, allowing the provision of the ideal amount of water for the development of crops and the rates of water infiltration into the soil. This work aimed to evaluate the soil-water retention curve of a soil cultivated under different mechanized tillage systems.The experiment consisted of three soil tillage systems, conventional tillage, minimum tillage and no-tillage.The soil-water retention curves were fitted using the Van Genuchten equation. It is possible to observe in the soil-water retention curve that no-tillage showed better curvature of the soil-water retention curve and consequently better soil quality.