Tillage systems and straw levels: soil biological quality and sugarcane yield

ABSTRACT Studies integrating factors influencing soil biological quality, soil macrofauna, and their relationships with sugarcane yield remain limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil biological quality, soil macrofauna, and sugarcane yield under different soil tillage systems and straw retention levels. The experiment was conducted in a clay-textured Typic Hapludox at an experimental area of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste), in partnership with the São Fernando sugar mill, in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. A randomized block design with four replications was used in a split-plot arrangement, with plots comprising no-tillage and conventional tillage systems and subplots comprising straw retention levels (0%, 50%, and 100%). Microbial biomass and soil macrofauna were evaluated at four different sampling times. Accumulated stalk and sugar yields were determined at the end of the crop cycle. In both soil tillage systems, maintaining straw on the soil improved soil microbiological quality and soil macrofauna attributes, particularly under conventional tillage. Adoption of no-tillage combined with retention of 100% straw increased stalk and sugar yield over a single sugarcane crop cycle.