Tillage recommendation for commercial forest production: Should tillage be based on soil penetrability, bulk density or more complex, integrative properties?

Best tillage practices for eucalyptus growth and productivity: A review on the Brazilian experience

“…Soil tillage significantly impacts soil structure (Dedecek et al, 2007;Reichert et al, 2014;França et al, 2021;Reichert et al, 2021a). In a study by Prevedello et al (2014), soil tillage with chiseling, chiseling followed by harrowing, and with a rotary resulted in less structural stability of aggregates, with a reduction in the percentage of aggregates in the larger diameter class.…”

“…Understanding the behavior of the soil under different tillage methods in afforestation areas is essential for improving soil properties and functioning, and thus allowing for adequate forest growth without compromising soil conservation (França et al, 2021). Therefore, to assess soil physical quality, suitable indicators must be analyzed for their sensitivity to changes and disturbances caused by management activities, such as by tillage (Reichert et al, 2021a). Once defined, these indicators can be monitored to assess the impact of the adopted management practices on the soil quality in the medium-and long-term (Chaer and Tótola, 2007).…”

“…Therefore, soil tillage activity varies depending on tillage purpose and soil characteristics, climate, weeds and harvesting residues. Before any intervention in the field, conducting an exploratory survey of the soil structural conditions is necessary (Reichert et al, 2021a), along with evaluating the species and genetic material to be planted (Morales, 2014). The effect of soil tillage depends not only on the equipment used, but also on the form and intensity of use.…”

Is cassava yield affected by inverting tillage, chiseling or additional compaction of no-till sandy-loam soil?

“…In programs designed for assessing the degradation or improvement of soil structure, the degree of soil compaction is an important concept for evaluating different tillage methods (Reichert et al, 2009a(Reichert et al, , 2021aSuzuki et al, 2013Suzuki et al, , 2015. Low DC may impede water retention and reduce soil-seed and soil-root contacts, while a high DC is an indication of low soil pore space, thus reducing soil aeration and increasing soil penetration resistance, resulting in restricted root growth and crop performance (Modolo et al, 2008).…”

“…However, soil compaction has been a problem due to machine traffic and natural reconsolidation. Soil chiseling is a tillage method used to reduce surface soil compaction in no-tillage systems by reducing soil bulk density and enhancing pore space (Cavalieri et al, 2006;Klein and Camara, 2007;Fasinmirin and Reichert, 2011;Awe et al, 2020;Reichert et al, 2020a;França et al, 2021;Reichert et al, 2021a;Rosa et al, 2021). Conventional tillage, the traditional tillage method used for cassava (Santos et al, 2020;Thomaz and Fidalski, 2020), is another option for decreasing soil compaction, but the excessive disturbance from soil inverting and mixing by plowing and disking causes undesirable effects such as soil disaggregation, with further exposion to rainfall impact (Lima et al, 2015), especially in sandy soils that are highly prone to erosion (Cantalice et al, 2005;Silva et al, 2020;Thomaz and Fidalski, 2020).…”