SOIL PHYSICAL QUALITY OF AN OXISOIL IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CERRADO REGION UNDER DIFFERENT USE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Soil management systems, as those that integrate crop and livestock production, aiming at maintenance or recovering of soil quality, are indispensable for a sustainable agricultural management. Our hypothesis is that the land use for integrated crop-livestock systems improves soil physical properties, thus contributing to a sustainable agricultural soil use in the southwestern Cerrado region. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different tillage systems on some soil physical properties of the Cerrado. The soil under study was classified as an Oxisol and the following management systems were evaluated: a) soil under natural vegetation; b) soil under soybean for one year followed by three years of pasture; c) soil under soybean for four years, followed by four years of pasture; d) soil under continuous no-tillage soybean; e) soil under continuous pasture. Soil density, soil penetration resistance and aggregate stability in water were evaluated from 1995-2006. The soil use for continuous Brachiaria decumbens pasture degraded the soil physical properties less than crop-livestock integration and continuous crop systems.