The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different soil tillage systems on soil physical and chemical attributes and their relationships with root development of maize (Zea mays L.) crop. The experiment was conducted at the Campinas Experimental Center of Instituto Agronômico, located in Campinas, SP, Brazil. The measurements were made during the 1990/91 summer cropping season when the field was cultivated with the cultivar C-606 of mayze crop. The tillage systems evaluated were: no tillage, soil tilled with chisel plow, and conventional soil tillage with disk plow and harrow, in plots measuring 7.5 m by 15.0 m, with three replications each. The soil physical and chemical attributes evaluated were: bulk density, soil penetration resistence, infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, pH and base saturation. The maize crop root density was determined using the auger method. The soil under no tillage showed the best soil fertility of the layer 0,0-0,1 m as compared to the soil tilled treatments. At the layers bellow that depth, the effect was the reverse. However, these differences did not affect the maize crop root development. The measured soil physical attributes allowed the identification of higher density layers caused by depth and repetition of mechanical operations of soil tillage, which contributed to reduce the maize root density.
no tillage; chisel plow; conventional tillage; soil management systems; Zea mays L
