No Brasil, ainda são escassos os estudos disponíveis com experimentos de longa duração em sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas. Após vinte anos (1985 a 2005), a fertilidade de solo foi avaliada, em Latossolo Vermelho distrófico típico, em Passo Fundo (RS), em quatro sistemas de manejo de solo (SMSs) - 1) plantio direto (PD), 2) cultivo mínimo (CM), 3) preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos e com grade de discos (PCD) e 4) preparo convencional de solo com arado de aivecas e com grade de discos (PCA) - e em três sistemas de rotação de culturas (SRCs): I (trigo/soja), II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho) e III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/milho e aveia branca/soja), incluindo como testemunha um fragmento adjacente de floresta subtropical (FST). O delineamento experimental foi em blocos completos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. As parcelas (4 x 90 m) no total de 12, foram constituídas pelos SMSs, e as subparcelas, pelos SRCs (4 x 10 m), no total de 72. Os valores de pH, carbono, P extraível e K disponível diferiram entre os SMSs. No PD, houve acúmulo de carbono orgânico, P e K, na camada superficial. Não houve diferença do nível de matéria orgânica (MOS) entre PD e FST, em todas as camadas estudadas. O nível de MOS e os teores de P e K foram mais elevados na camada 0-0,05 m, quando comparados com os observados de 0,15-0,20 m de profundidade, sob PD e nas rotações II e III. Observou-se que em FST os valores de pH, Ca, P e de K foram menores do que os dos SMSs e SRCs.
Long term field studies on crop rotation and soil tillage systems under Brazilian conditions are scarce. Soil fertility characteristics were assessed after twenty years (1985 to 2005) on a typical dystrophic Red Latosol located in Passo Fundo, in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. Four soil tillage systems (STS) - 1) no-tillage, 2) minimum tillage, 3) conventional tillage using disk plow followed by disk harrow, and 4) conventional tillage using moldboard plow followed by disk harrow - and three crop rotation systems (CRS): I (wheat/soybean), II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn), and III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn, and white oat/soybean) were evaluated, including as check a fragment of subtropical forest (FST). A randomized complete block design, with split-plots and three replicates, was used. The main field plots (4 x 90 m) in a total of 12, were the soil tillage systems, whereas the subplots (4 x 10 m), in a total of 72 comprised the crop rotation systems. Values of soil pH, soil organic carbon, extractable P, and exchangeable K were affected by soil tillage systems (STSs). Higher levels of soil organic matter and contents of soil carbon, extractable P, and exchangeable K were observed in the 0-0,05 m layer for the no-tillage system. No statistical differences were found in soil organic matter levels between no-tillage and tropical forest, in any soil layer. Values of soil organic matter, P, and K were higher in the 0-0,05 m layer, when compared to the ones observed in the 0,15-0,20 m layer, in no-tillage and II and III CRSs. Values of pH, Ca, P, and K observed in all STSs and CRSs were higher than in the tropical forest area.
