International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 3(9), pp. 187-195, September 2014 ISSN 2327-3321 ©2014 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The mineralist concept to express the soil fertility perceived by plants grown under no-tillage system

Margarete Nicolodi*, Clesio Gianello, Ibanor Anghinoni, Jacques Marrè and João Mielniczuk

Post-Graduate Program in Soil Science, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, n. 7712, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: marganicolodi@hotmail.com.

Accepted 27 August, 2014

Abstract

Soil fertility is the capacity of the soil to supply nutrients in quantity and balanced proportions in the absence of toxic elements for plant growth and productivity. This concept, derived from the mineralist theory, is widely employed around the world. With the shift from conventional tillage to no-tillage system, high crop productivity has frequently been obtained under no-tillage system, even with values of soil fertility indicators that are considered inadequate for plant growth under conventional tillage. The aim of this research is to verify the capacity of the mineralist concept and the evaluation to express the fertility perceived by corn plants grown under no-tillage system conducted for long periods with different crop rotations. Soil fertility indicators and corn grain yields were evaluated during the 2005/2006 crop season in experiments that have been carried out for 20 years in Eldorado do Sul, Brazil. The results showed that the soil chemical indicators that are commonly used to evaluate soil fertility were not always able to detect changes in the soil capacity to promote crop yields in soils under different tillage systems and crop rotations. The presented evaluation and, thus, the mineralist concept of soil fertility, were not sufficient to express the soil fertility perceived by the plants in soils cultivated under long-term no-tillage conditions.

Key words: Soil fertility indicators, grain yield, concept, mineralist theory, systemic approach, field results.