Soil management systems and attributes in the work area of the Microbacias 2 Program in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Abstract

The knowledge of some chemical and physical attributes within the main soil management systems constitutes an important tool to build diagnosis of the soil potential for crop production in a region. For this characterization in the work area of the Microbacias 2 Program in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, the clay and organic matter content
were determined, some attributes related to soil acidity and cation exchange capacity were observed, and soil samples were collected in lands which use the two main soil management systems within each microcatchment. To better analyze the data, the state was divided into four regions considering at the same time the predominant geologic formations and climatic type, which were named Seashore, Center, Highland and West. The results were grouped according to the
interpretation classes for each parameter within each region. The use of soil conservation systems in summer crops increases significantly from the Seashore to the West region. However, the winter crops are sowed mainly with soil tillage in all regions. The West and Highland regions showed greater percentage of lands in the better classes of
interpretation from the soil attributes studied, showing better conditions for crop production.