Spatial Variability of Soil Penetration Resistance in Coffee Growing

Abstract

The intensive use of machines in agriculture tends to cause soil compaction, which can hamper the expansion of root system and the absorption of water and nutrients, thus affecting the crop development. In view of the above, the present study aimed to identify critical zones of soil compaction, through the spatial distribution of soil penetration resistance (SPR), having positions within the coffee rows and soil depth ranges as variables. The study was performed in a coffee plantation of 7.32 ha, belonging to the Bom Jardim Farm, located in the municipality of Bom Sucesso, MG, Brazil. The SPR was measured using a penetrometer in the depth range from 0 to 0.40 m, with discretization in four layers of 0.10 m. The data were interpreted based on geostatistics, in order to identify if there is spatial dependence of the SPR and generate thematic maps demonstrating the variable’s spatial behavior. It is concluded that there is spatial dependence of soil penetration resistance, being possible to use geostatistical tools to generate thematic maps based on classes of soil penetration resistance. The values of SPR in the tractor trail, for layers from 0.10 to 0.20 and from 0.20 to 0.30 m, were classified in the high SPR class and could cause damage to the crop.

Mapping Soil and Pasture Attributes for Buffalo Management through Remote Sensing and Geostatistics in Amazon Biome

“…The existence of spatial dependence for DM data can be observed in Table 4 , confirming the application of geostatistics to spatial behavior phenomena [ 60 ]. DM showed a spatial dependence interval of 13.6 m ( Table 4 ).…”

Precision Techniques and Agriculture 4.0 Technologies to Promote Sustainability in the Coffee Sector: State of the Art, Challenges and Future Trends

“…Through PA techniques such as semivariogram and kriging maps, several studies have analyzed the detachment force of green and red fruits in coffee crops [28], [84], [85] Other works explored the level of soil nutrients and its relationship with coffee crop productivity [80], [86]- [90], and the impact of compaction, density and soil penetration resistance (SPR) on plant productivity and development [83], [91]. Other works used sensors and geostatistics to identify the apparent soil electrical conductivity [92], to measure micronutrients and nutritional status of plants [93], and to analyze the soil fertilizer contents [94].…”

Critical Limits for Soybean and Black Bean Root Growth, Based on Macroporosity and Penetrability, for Soils with Distinct Texture and Management Systems

“…On the other hand, in regions of the soil where resistance is higher and oxygen and nutrient availability are deficient, the roots grow less and the plant compensates this by growing more in the less resistant zones [81]. Assessing the spatial variability of penetration resistance in an experimental area of 0.2 ha with different sampling grids in an Oxisol in the south-central region of Paraná, the soil layer between 0.05 and 0.20 m was the one with the highest resistance values [58]. In a laboratory study on the influence of soil compaction on maize crops, Carneiro et al [68] found that leaf mass was reduced regardless of the depth of the compacted layer; however, when it occurs in the surface layer, the problem is exacerbated due to the low availability of water and nutrients for the establishment of the plant, which requires a large amount of energy to develop its root system.…”

“…Aiming at better soil management, Spliethoff et al [57] evaluated the spatial variability of penetration resistance in an experimental area of 0.2 ha with different sampling grids in an Oxisol. Further, Andrade et al [58] evaluated the spatial variability of soil resistance to penetration in coffee plantations to obtain information about compaction and support decision making regarding the performance of the subsoiling operation.…”