Soil fertility in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in 2004

Abstract

The soil fertility in four regions of Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil, which were established by
their similarity in parent material and climate conditions, was surveyed using 35,163 soil samples, analyzed in 2004 by five official laboratories in the State. The clay content increased from east to the west of the State, following the pattern of changes in parent material. In the same way increased the amount of samples with higher organic matter content. Very low and low pH predominated in all regions, although most of the samples
were classified as medium or high in exchangeable Ca and Mg. A significant number of soil samples were very low and low in bases saturation, or medium and high in Al saturation, mainly in the seashore and sedimentary rocks regions. Most of the soil samples were classified as medium or higher in extractable K, except for seashore region, and more than 50% of the soil samples were classified as medium or lower in extractable P.