The study was carried out in the county of Viçosa, MG, Brazil, in the campus of Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV). The objective was to study the physico-hydric behavior of a Red Yellow Cambic Podzolic soil terrace phase under different management systems. The experimental design was a completely randomized block design, with five treatments and four replications. Treatments were: 1- moldboard plow; 2- disk plow; 3- heavy disk harrow; 4- no tillage; 5- control (fallow). Organic matter, texture, bulk density, particle density, total porosity, macro-porosity and micro-porosity, agregates and soil moisture tension curves were measured. Results indicate that: soil organic matter is slightly greater in no-tillage and control plots, and reduces in heavy disk plots in the surface 15 cm of the profile; cultivation with heavy machinery increases soil bulk density only slightly in the surface 15 cm of the soil profile; soil tillage increases macroporosity; no-till and control plots show greater aggregate stability; no-tillage plots have greater water holding capacity.
soil physics; organic matter; management systems; mechanization; no-tillage
