Emission of CO2 and soil microbial activity in sugarcane management systems

Rose Luiza Moraes Tavares; Camila Viana Vieira Farhate; Zigomar Menezes de Souza; Newton La Scala Junior; Jose Luiz Rodrigues Torres; Milton Cesar Costa Campos

doi:10.5897/AJAR2014.9351

African Journal of
Agricultural Research

Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
Language: English
ISSN: 1991-637X
DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
Start Year: 2006
Published Articles: 6863

Full Length Research Paper

Emission of CO2 and soil microbial activity in sugarcane management systems

Rose Luiza Moraes Tavares

Rose Luiza Moraes Tavares
School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Campinas, Av. Candido Rondon, 501, Barao Geraldo, CEP 13083-875 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Camila Viana Vieira Farhate

Camila Viana Vieira Farhate
School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Campinas, Av. Candido Rondon, 501, Barao Geraldo, CEP 13083-875 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Zigomar Menezes de Souza

Zigomar Menezes de Souza
School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Campinas, Av. Candido Rondon, 501, Barao Geraldo, CEP 13083-875 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Newton La Scala Junior

Newton La Scala Junior
Department of Exact Sciences, School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences of Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State University, s/n, Santa Luzia CEP 14884900 Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Jose Luiz Rodrigues Torres

Jose Luiz Rodrigues Torres
Department of Soils, Federal Institute of the Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba Campus, Rua Joao Batista Ribeiro, 4000, CEP: 38064-790, Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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Milton Cesar Costa Campos

Milton Cesar Costa Campos
Department of Agronomy, Federal University Amazonas. Rua 29 de Agosto, 786, Centro, CEP.: 69.800-000, State of Amazonas, Brazil.
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Article Number - B063B1F51054
Vol.10(9), pp. 975-982 , February 2015
https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2014.9351

Received: 11 November 2014
Accepted: 21 February 2015
Published: 26 February 2015

Abstract

Because of the great importance of sugarcane in the Brazilian agricultural sector, this study was developed in order to evaluate the soil CO₂ flux and the soil microbial activity in the systems of burned sugarcane and green sugarcane. For this end, three areas were evaluated with different histories of sugarcane management: (1) burned sugarcane BS); (2) green sugarcane for 5 years (GS-5); (3) green sugarcane for 10 years (GS-10), considering that both areas of green sugarcane were converted from a scenario of prior burning before harvest. The soil CO₂ flux (FCO₂), basal respiration (BR), carbon of the microbial biomass (CMB), metabolic quotient (qCO₂) and microbial quotient (qMIC) were evaluated in 30 points in a 100 × 100 m sampling grid, amounting to 1 ha. The results indicated higher FCO₂ and CBM in the GS-10 area, and lower in the BS area, whose CO₂ emission and microbial activity were higher in summer. The metabolic and microbial quotients showed a greater balance of the soil microbial activity in the area of green sugarcane for 10 years, fostered mainly by the higher amount of mulch on the soil.

Key words: Saccharum officinarum, soil respiration, microorganisms, mulch.