ABSTRACT: A set of attributes endows the soils with distinctive characteristics and astute understanding is required in order to formulate suitable strategies for soil management. The aim of this study was to physically, chemically and mineralogically characterize samples of the main soil classes in Minas Gerais, Brazil, determine the point of zero salt effect (PZSE) and the point of zero charge (PZC), and ascertain the correlation between these factors and soil attributes. The soils evaluated presented different textural classes ranging from loamy sand (Entisol) to very clayey (some Oxisols and Ultisols). The soils differed substantially in terms of fertility, presenting a range from dystrophic (low fertility, base saturation < 50 %) to eutrophic character (fertility, base saturation ≥ 50 %), even within the same soil class, such as the Oxisols, which suggests the concurrence of the parent material. Highly weathered soils are predominant in Minas Gerais and these soils are composed predominantly of kaolinite, gibbsite, goethite and hematite. Traces of hydroxy-Al interlayered vermiculite and illite were also found in the Oxisols, Ultisols and Inceptisols. A correlation between the PZSE and the PZC in the A horizon was observed. A high degree of correlation was observed between the PZC and the exchangeable aluminum and the ratio of iron obtained by ammonium oxalate and dithionite-citrate (Feo/Fed) in both the A and B horizons of soil classes. The results obtained reinforce the importance of knowledge of soil attributes to the adoption of practices such as the management of phosphate fertilization in clayey soils and liming in soils rich in aluminum.

ABSTRACT: Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring chemical element considered toxic and carcinogenic by health and environmental protection agencies. Studies of As adsorption/desorption behavior in soils are important to predictions of As’ potential mobility in natural systems. The aim of this study was to assess the adsorption of As(V) in soils from Minas Gerais, Brazil, and determine its immobilization rate in order to identify soils with characteristics more favorable to its deployment as an As geochemical barrier. The adsorption experiment was performed using different As concentrations and the data pertaining to the maximum adsorption capacity of As(V) (MACAs) were determined by Langmuir and Freundlich isoterms. The Oxisols, due to their more oxidic mineralogy, especially more gibbsitic, and clayey texture, showed the highest MACAs, followed by Ultisols, Inceptisols, and Entisols. In terms of the desorption of As the Inceptisols were the soils that showed the most As desorption. Both As desorption and mobility was lower in the more oxidic and clayey soils. In all soils, the total amount of As was desorbed in due course, but the As release ratio tended to decrease with the passage of time. In general, soils with higher MACAs did not necessarily show less As desorption. For use as a geochemical barrier, as important as a high adsorption capacity of As by the soil is a low As desorption rate. The increase in As mobility may increase the risks of contaminating the supplies of water. To be a good As geochemical barrier the soil has to be a clayey Oxisol, with relatively high amounts of Fe and Al oxides, especially gibbsite.

A erosão hídrica é responsável por perdas de solo, água, carbono orgânico e nutrientes, sendo esta a principal forma de degradação dos solos brasileiros. Dessa forma, objetivou-se, com este trabalho, avaliar a influência de três plantas de cobertura, em dois sistemas de manejo, no controle da erosão hídrica em um Argissolo, no sul de Minas Gerais. As plantas de cobertura utilizadas foram o feijão-guandu, feijão-de-porco e milheto, em dois sistemas de manejo (plantio em nível e em desnível no sentido do declive), sendo que uma parcela sem cobertura vegetal foi mantida como testemunha. Para a quantificação das perdas de solo, água, carbono orgânico e nutrientes utilizaram-se parcelas de 4 x 12 m em que a maior dimensão obedeceu ao sentido do declive, de 9 %, sob chuva natural. Os meses de dezembro e janeiro apresentaram a maior erosividade, porém elevada quantidade de chuvas erosivas foram detectadas durante todo o período chuvoso. O plantio em nível proporcionou maior redução da erosão hídrica em comparação ao plantio em desnível, conforme era de se supor. O feijão-de-porco cultivado em nível obteve os menores valores de perdas de solo, água, nutrientes e matéria orgânica.

Water erosion is responsible for soil, water, carbon and nutrient losses, turning into the most important type of degradation of Brazilian soils. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of three cover plants under two tillage systems on water erosion control in an Argisol at south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The cover plants utilized in the study were pigeon pea, jack bean and millet, under contour seeding and downslope tillage. Experimental plots of 4 x 12 m, with 9% slope, under natural rainfall were used for the quantification of losses of soil, water, nutrients, and organic matter. One experimental plot was kept without plant cover (reference). Higher erosivity was observed in December and January, although a great quantity of erosive rainfall was detected during the whole raining period. Contour seeding provided a greater reduction of water erosion than downslope tillage, as expected. The jack bean under contour seeding revealed the lowest values of soil, water, nutrients and organic matter losses.

O conhecimento dos níveis de pressão aplicados aos solos pelos diferentes manejos de plantas invasoras é essencial para adaptar o manejo de lavouras cafeeiras de forma sustentável. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: a) gerar os modelos de capacidade de suporte de carga de um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo submetido a diferentes manejos de plantas invasoras e b) determinar qual manejo resultou em maior compactação. O estudo foi realizado na Fazenda Experimental da EPAMIG, situada próxima a comunidade Farias, em Lavras-MG (latitude de 21° 14' 43" S e longitude 44° 59' 59" W e altitude de 919 m). O solo foi classificado como sendo um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo o qual vem sendo cultivado com cafeeiros da cutivar Topázio MG 1190, desde 2006. Foram avaliados cinco manejos de plantas invasoras sendo três, por meio do controle mecânico (grade de discos (GD), roçadora (RÇ) e trincha (TC),) e dois, por meio do controle químico (herbicida de pós-emergência (HPós), herbicida de pré-emergência (HPré)). Para a obtenção dos modelos de capacidade de suporte de carga, 10 amostras indeformadas de solo foram coletadas aleatoriamente nas camadas 0-3 e 10-13 e 25-28 cm nas entrelinhas do cafeeiro. Os modelos de capacidade de suporte de carga apontaram maior compactação do solo na camada de 0-3 cm para TC e GD; na camada 10-13 cm para HPre, HPos e RÇ e na camada 25-28 cm para GD; e indicaram maior suscetibilidade à compactação na camada de 0-3 cm para HPos; na camada 10-13 cm para GD e TC e na camada 25-28 cm para HPre.

It is essential to know the levels of pressure applied to the soil by different weed managements to adapt the management of coffee plantations in a sustainable manner. The objectives of this study were: a) to generate load-bearing capacity models of a Red-Yellow Latosol (Oxisol) submitted to different weed managements and b) to determine which weed management resulted in higher compression. The study was conducted at the Experimental Farm of EPAMIG, located near the community Farias, in Lavras-MG (latitude 21° 14' 43" S and longitude 44° 59' 59" W and altitude of 919 m). The soil is a Red-Yellow Latosol (LVA) cultivated with coffee plantation using Topazio MG 1190 coffee variety, since 2006. We evaluated five weed managements, three being through mechanical control (harrow (GD), mowing (RÇ) and brush (TC)) and two by chemical control (post-emergence herbicide (HPos) and pre emergence herbicide (HPre)). To obtain the load-bearing capacity models, 10 undisturbed soil samples were randomly collected in the 0-3, 10-13 and 25-28 cm layers between the rows. The load-bearing capacity models which indicated a higher compaction were: in the 0-3 cm layer, TC and GD; in the 10-13 cm layer, HPre, HPos and RÇ and in the 25-28 cm layer, GD. The load-bearing capacity models that indicated greater susceptibility to compaction were: in the 0-3 cm layer, HPos; in the 10-13 cm layer, GD and TC and in the 25-28 cm layer, HPre.

O manejo de plantas invasoras é considerado uma das principais atividades que promovem degradação da estrutura do solo em lavouras cafeeiras, devido à compactação do solo causada pelas operações de controle de plantas invasoras. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar o modelo de capacidade de suporte de carga para o manejo de plantas invasoras sem capina, bem como, utilizando esse modelo, qual manejo de plantas invasoras causa menor ou maior compactação do solo. Este estudo foi realizado em um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo (LVA) cultivado com cafeeiros da cutivar Topázio MG 1190 desde 2006, localizado na Fazenda Experimental da EPAMIG, na comunidade Farias, em Lavras-MG. Os manejos de plantas invasoras avaliados foram: na linha de tráfego da entrelinha - grade de discos, herbicida de pós-emergência, herbicida de pré-emergência, roçadora e trincha; e no centro da entrelinha, onde não houve tráfego - amendoim forrageiro (Arachis pintoi), braquiária (Brachiaria decumbens), capina manual, crotalária (Crotalaria juncea) e soja (Glicine max L). A amostragem consistiu de duas etapas: uma para determinar o modelo de capacidade de suporte de carga para o manejo de plantas invasoras sem capina; e outra para avaliar a compactação promovida pelos outros manejos de plantas invasoras. A fim de determinar o modelo de capacidade de suporte de carga para o manejo sem capina, foram coletadas no centro da entrelinha 20 amostras com estrutura indeformada nas profundidades de 0-3, 10-13 e 25-28 cm, totalizando 60 amostras. Essas amostras foram submetidas ao ensaio de compressão uniaxial para obter as pressões de pré-consolidação e as umidades volumétricas, que foram usadas para determinar o modelo de capacidade de suporte de carga. Para determinar a compactação causada pelos manejos de plantas invasoras, realizados por meio do controle mecânico, foram coletadas em janeiro de 2010, nas linhas de tráfego das entrelinhas, 180 amostras com estrutura indeformada (5 manejos x 3 profundidades x 12 amostras de solo com estrutura indeformada); para os manejos de plantas invasoras realizados com o uso de plantas de cobertura, foram coletadas em janeiro de 2010, no centro das entrelinhas, 180 amostras com estrutura indeformada (5 manejos x 3 profundidades x 12 amostras de solo com estrutura indeformada). Essas amostras foram submetidas ao ensaio de compressão uniaxial, a fim de obter as pressões de pré-consolidação e as umidades volumétricas após a implantação dos manejos de plantas invasoras, e usadas nos critérios propostos por Dias Junior et al. (2005) para determinar a compactação causada por esses manejos. O uso dos modelos de capacidade de suporte de carga e das pressões de pré-consolidação determinadas após a implantação dos manejos de plantas invasoras permitiu identificar os manejos grade de discos, roçadora e trincha como os que promoveram maior compactação; os manejos braquiária, crotalária e soja foram os que causaram menor compactação nas três profundidades estudadas.

Weed management is considered one of the activities that degrade the soil structure most in coffee crops, due to the soil compaction caused by weed control operations. The objective of this study was to determine the bearing capacity models for no weed control and to use this model to determine which weed management causes smaller or greater soil compaction. The study was conducted on a Red-Yellow Latosol (LVA), under coffee (variety Topazio MG 1190), on the Experimental Farm of EPAMIG in the community Farias, Lavras-MG (latitude 21°14'43" S, longitude 44°59'59" W). The following weed managements were assessed: a) in the traffic line of the inter-rows - disc harrow, post-emergence herbicide, pre-emergence herbicide, mower and brush and b) in the center of the inter-rows - peanut (Arachis pintoi), braquiaria (Brachiaria decumbens), hand weeding, sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea) and soybean (Glycine max L). The sampling consisted of two stages, one to determine the bearing capacity models for the treatment no weeding and another to assess the compaction caused by the other weed management. To determine the bearing capacity model for the treatment no weeding, 20 undisturbed soil samples from the layers 0-3, 10-13 and 25-28 cm were collected in the middle of the inter-rows, totaling 60 samples. These samples were subjected to the uniaxial compression test to obtain the preconsolidation pressure and the volumetric water content, which were used to determine the bearing capacity model. To determine the compaction caused by the other weed managements, based on mechanical control, 180 samples with undisturbed structure were collected in January 2010 from the traffic lines of the inter-rows, (5 weed management x 3 depths x 12 soil samples with undisturbed structure). For the weed managements using cover crops, in January 2010, 180 samples with undisturbed structure (5 weed management x 3 depths x 12 soil samples with undisturbed structure) were collected from the middle of the inter-rows These samples were submitted to the uniaxial compression test to determine preconsolidation pressure and the volumetric water content after applying the weed managements and were used in the criteria proposed by Dias Junior et al. (2005) to determine the compaction caused by these managements. By the bearing capacity models and the preconsolidation pressure determined after implementing the weed managements, the treatments disc harrow, mower and brush were detected for causing greatest soil compaction and braquiaria, sunhemp and soybean as causing least compaction in the three studied layers.