Abstract:
In Venezuela the sustainable food production and environmental quality is threatened by soil
degradation in the Venezuelan plains. Scarce information of the main types and processes of soil
degradation these soils are available. As a support to near future management decisions, the
objective of this work is to assess the impact of long-term effect of conventional management on
several physical and chemical soil properties, soil penetration resistance and soil water
infiltration in a sandy soil with different agricultural managements on the Mesa de Guanipa. Soil
samples were taken in a stratified-random unaligned grid. There are significant differences
between forest and conventional land use in the phosphorous content (P3+) calcium (Ca2+),
magnesium (Mg2+), soil organic matter (SOM), penetration resistance (PR) and soil infiltration.
However, there are no significant differences for the bulk density (?b) between managements.
These differences are associated to conventional management that affect the physical qualities,
especially the adverse consequences in the soil mechanical resistance and infiltration capacity of
sandy soils in the Mesa de Guanipa.PR in the subsoil of intensively cultivated soil exceeds the
value of no- tillage more than 2 times. The average effective penetration is 0.27 cm/blows for the
disturbed soil and 0.39 cm/ blows for the undisturbed. Initial and final soil infiltration rate of the
no-tillage exceeds the value of tillage in 2 and 5 times, respectively. The adoption of
conservation practices is crucial for their sustainability on the medium and long term |
