Silage yield, organic carbon content and physical attributes of a chiseled Ferralsol under an integrated crop-livestock system

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical attributes and the silage production of a soil submitted to chiseling under an integrated crop-livestock system (ICLS) for nine years. The experiment was performed with clayey Ferralsol with three treatments (no-tillage, no-tillage with chiseling every other year, and conventional tillage) and three blocks. Corn was grown for silage in the summer, and ryegrass for pasture in the winter. The sampled soil layers each year were: 0.00-0.05 m; 0.05-0.10 m; 0.10-0.20 m; and 0.20-0.30 m, in order to determine total organic carbon, particle density, texture, porosity, bulk density and resistance to penetration. Compaction was evaluated by the relative density and the structure by the structural index. Dry matter corn silage yield and ryegrass forage were determined. Chiseling did not provide higher silage yield compared to other treatments. However, chiseling provided improvements in the physical attributes of the Ferralsol conducted over nine years on ICLS with the physical attributes of the soil detected 12 months after chiseling management.