Title:	Soil organic matter as affected by green manure at Brazilian conditions.
Authors:	SAGRILO, E. LEITE, L. F. C. MACIEL, G. A.
Affiliation:	EDVALDO SAGRILO, CPAMN; LUIZ FERNANDO CARVALHO LEITE, CPAMN; GIOVANA ALCANTARA MACIEL, CPAC.
Date Issued:	2011
Citation:	Dynamic soil, dynamic plant, v. 5, (Special issue 1), p. 7-11, 2011.
Description:	The use of green manure has been associated with increasing soil organic matter (SOM), which is an essential component of high-quality agricultural soils, especially in tropical environments such as Brazil. The aim of this review was to present evidence of the effectiveness that green manures use has on the improvement of Brazilian SOM stocks. The contribution of soil aggregation to SOM stabilization, the importance of returning high amounts of plant residues to the soil, and the effectiveness of including N-fixing legumes in the cropping systems are all summarized. Soil aggregation is highly dependent on the continual addition of crop residues to the soil, and creates favorable conditions for SOM accumulation. SOM build-up is directly correlated to the amount of crop residues added to the soil and it is closely dependent on the duration, in the long-term, of this soil residue input. Moreover, the quality of these crop residues is of major importance, considering not only the high content of C directly added to the soil by the green manures, but also their N content, which is a determinant in the growth of subsequent crops, resulting in increased amounts of residue-derived C returned to the soil. The inclusion of green manures in cropping systems, especially legume species, in association with appropriate soil management practices, is a feasible and sustainable way to increase long-term SOM stocks in Brazilian tropical conditions.
NAL Thesaurus:	Soil organic matter Green manures Nitrogen fixation Cover crops Tropical soils
Type of Material:	Artigo de periódico
Access:	openAccess
Appears in Collections:	Artigo em periódico indexado (CPAC)