Long term field studies on crop rotation and soil tillage systems under Brazilian conditions are scarce. Soil fertility characteristics were assessed after twenty years (1985 to 2005) on a typical dystrophic Red Latosol located in Passo Fundo, in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. Four soil tillage systems (STS) - 1) no-tillage, 2) minimum tillage, 3) conventional tillage using disk plow followed by disk harrow, and 4) conventional tillage using moldboard plow followed by disk harrow - and three crop rotation systems (CRS): I (wheat/soybean), II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn), and III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn, and white oat/soybean) were evaluated, including as check a fragment of subtropical forest (FST). A randomized complete block design, with split-plots and three replicates, was used. The main field plots (4 x 90 m) in a total of 12, were the soil tillage systems, whereas the subplots (4 x 10 m), in a total of 72 comprised the crop rotation systems. Values of soil pH, soil organic carbon, extractable P, and exchangeable K were affected by soil tillage systems (STSs). Higher levels of soil organic matter and contents of soil carbon, extractable P, and exchangeable K were observed in the 0-0,05 m layer for the no-tillage system. No statistical differences were found in soil organic matter levels between no-tillage and tropical forest, in any soil layer. Values of soil organic matter, P, and K were higher in the 0-0,05 m layer, when compared to the ones observed in the 0,15-0,20 m layer, in no-tillage and II and III CRSs. Values of pH, Ca, P, and K observed in all STSs and CRSs were higher than in the tropical forest area.
no-tillage; soil acidity; phosphorus; potassium; carbon organic
