Spatial variability of soil physical attributes and morphogenic behavior of forage in pasture grown in Parauapebas city, State of Pará, Brazil
Soil compaction, Geostatistics, Buffalos.
In cultivated pasture, the plants development is directly related to soil attributes and its spatial variability, and due to its intensive management, has caused levels of soil degradation and consequent decrease in pasture yield. It is also observed that there is a shortage of studies in Southeast region of Pará State in relation to use of geostatistics as a tool in study of relation of spatial distribution of soil attributes and forage quality in cultivated pasture systems, in which could contribute to more profitable and environmentally sustainable livestock. Based on this, the aim of study were to evaluate the spatial variability of soil attributes and the morphogenic behavior of forage in grazing under a rotational system of buffaloes. The study was carried out in Parauapebas city, State of Pará, Brazil, in a pasture grown forage Panicum maximum (Jacq.) cv. Mombasa, in a rotational grazing system with buffaloes, established five years ago. An experimental mesh was installed for data collection established with spacing of 10 x 10 m, containing 392 sampling points distributed in an area of 34300 m2. The soil attributes analyzed were soil mechanical resistance to penetration (SMRP), soil water content (U%) and soil hydrogenation potential (pH). The qualitative parameters of forage were: height (H), number of tillers (NT), dry mass (DM), stem / leaf ratio (SL ratio), leaf area index (LAI). In superficial layers of soil (0-0.2m), the physical attributes of soil SMRP and pH showed a structure of spatial dependence of moderate to strong in pickets. A (U%) showed weak spatial dependence and high correlation with pH. Forage height and number of tillers had moderate to strong spatial dependence and low correlation with soil attributes.