Soil Bioindicators and Crop Productivity Affected by Legacy Phosphate Fertilization and <i>Azospirillum brasilense</i> Inoculation in No-Till Systems
Pressure on agroecosystems is increasing with rising agricultural demand, pushing Brazilian agriculture toward more sustainable systems that prioritize soil health. This study aimed to evaluate whether long-term no-till management and inoculation with <i>Azospirillum brasilense</i> influ...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/13/7146 |
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| Summary: | Pressure on agroecosystems is increasing with rising agricultural demand, pushing Brazilian agriculture toward more sustainable systems that prioritize soil health. This study aimed to evaluate whether long-term no-till management and inoculation with <i>Azospirillum brasilense</i> influenced soil bioindicators; chemical, biological, and enzymatic attributes; and how these attributes correlated with crop productivity in a rotational system. The experiment also assessed the residual effects of phosphate fertilization (initially applied in 2013 and reapplied in 2020) and its interaction with inoculation on soil phosphorus fractions and crop performance. This study was conducted on Dystrophic Red Oxisol in the low-altitude Cerrado region under 20 years of no-tillage management, using a randomized block design in a 5 × 2 factorial scheme: five phosphorus doses (0, 30, 60, 120, and 240 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>) and inoculated or non-inoculated grasses, with four replicates. The results showed that inoculation influenced dry matter (DM) production and nutrient cycling, improving soil health despite lower fertility and total DM. The correlation between bioindicators and productivity suggests that soil health indicators can be used to monitor system sustainability. No consistent effects of inoculation or phosphate fertilization were observed for some crop components, indicating complex interactions under long-term conservationist systems. |
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| ISSN: | 2076-3417 |