Agregação de um latossolo vermelho-amarelo submetido a métodos de controle de plantas invasoras na cultura do café

Abstract

Weed management in the coffee crop has a pronounced effect on soil physical quality, affecting its structural stability, among other properties. The aim of the present study was to assess the state of aggregation of primary particles of a Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo (LVA) [Oxisol] planted with coffee when subjected to various weed control methods. The weed control methods evaluated were biological control with Arachis pintoi L. (a forage crop close to the peanut) and Brachiaria decumbens; mechanical control with a disk harrow, brush cutter, brush shredder, and manual weeding; chemical control using herbicides in post- and pre-emergence; and no weed control between rows. A split-plot randomized block experimental design was used in a 9 × 2 factorial arrangement, composed of nine treatments and two sampling depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm), with three replicates. The stability of aggregates in water (expressed by geometric mean diameter), the dispersive potential of the clay fraction (estimated by the water dispersible clay content and the flocculation index), and the soil organic matter content were determined. The properties evaluated were affected by the different weed control methods; however, this was not dependent on the soil layers sampled. Continued use of a harrow and pre-emergence herbicide for weed control in the coffee crop decreased aggregation of soil particles, as seen through the lower values of geometric mean diameter. Biological weed control methods maintained a better state of soil particle aggregation. The state of soil particle aggregation showed no association with the dispersibility of the clay fraction in the soil.