PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A CULTIVATED CAMBISOL TREATED WITH BIOFERTILIZER IN THE APODI PLATEAU, CEARA, BRAZIL

Knowledge of soil physical changes and soil quality is important for creating adequate management strategies to be adopted for soil under crop production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cultivation and application of biofertilizer (obtained from cattle manure) on the physical quality of a Cambisol planted to Ficus carica L. with a drip irrigation system and to verify the efficiency of indicators in assessing changes in its physical properties. In order to evaluate physical quality, five soil scenarios were analyzed: soil under fig cultivation without application of biofertilizer (control), soil with application of 20, 40, and 60 % of the biofertilizer through irrigation, and soil from secondary native forest (additional control). Analyses were made in the 0.0-0.1, 0.1-0.2, and 0.2-0.3 m layers, with four replicates. In these layers, disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken for physical analyses (particle size distribution, dispersed clay, organic carbon, particle density, soil bulk density, resistance to penetration, and soil water retention curve). Soil cultivation under the conditions described in this study (soil tillage with moldboard plow and disking, use of irrigation, and all crop practices needed to grow the fig crop) did not worsen soil physical quality in any of the layers evaluated. The application of biofertilizer improves the quality of soil physical properties, especially water retention, due to the increase in microporosity.