Land fragility in the River Corumbataí basin through different methods of tillage

Abstract

Since most tillage practices weaken the soil surface and cause impacts on different soil and slope types, research results in applying a methodology to evaluate presumed land fragility on the Corumbataí River Watershed, in São Paulo, Brazil, are provided. Based on research data, a matrix was used for correlating mechanization, soil type and slope factors. This resulted in thematic maps that show the spatial distribution and percentage for land fragility. The latter has been classified into severe, high, moderate, low and very low classes. Four types of tillage were analyzed: no tillage, chisel, moldboard plow and rotovator. According to results, one may conclude that a strong convenience exists in the adoption of no tillage and chiseling soil-preparing systems as a way of mitigating environmental impacts caused by soil mobilization due to agricultural management in the Corumbatai watershed