EVALUATION OF SOME MICROBIOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOIL IN TWO DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Abstract

Due to the high population growth, there is a strong demand for opening new areas for cultivation and food production in tropical regions. This phenomenon degrades organic matter, especially nutrient reserves. Due to the concern and interests aimed at sustainable agricultural systems for food production and the achievement of results that enable their evaluation, it is necessary to study response variables that are more sensitive to the different management and cultural treatments of soils during planting successive or perennial agricultural crops. Within a multifocal approach, the activity of microorganisms can be used as a parameter or indicator of change in the quality and health of soils, considering that these functions enable the mediation of biochemical processes related to the management and accumulation and quality of straw in these types of systems. Microbial metabolism may be a more rapidly measurable factor when compared to soil physical and chemical attributes. This can potentially become a useful tool to predict or infer the quality of a soil managed in different cropping systems within a short, medium, or long term. The objective of this work was to evaluate possible changes in soil microbial activity from estimates of microbial biomass carbon (CBM), microbial biomass nitrogen (NBM), dehydrogenase (DNASE), soil microbial biomass respiration (RBMS) and the metabolic quotient (qCO2), in two cropping systems in the western region of São Paulo. System 1 characterized by succession of annual crops with soybean/maize (SASM) and system 2 conducted under perennial pasture of the genus Urochloa (SPPU).

Keywords

• microbial biomass
• soil quality indicators
• soil management
• soil health