Assessment of Soil Quality of Smallholder Agroecosystems in the Semiarid Region of Northeastern Brazil

The assessment of soil quality is crucial for the sustainable development of agriculture in semiarid regions. Due to their sensitivity to management practices, soil chemical and physical quality indicators are used for investigating soil quality. This study aimed to assess the soil quality of smallh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Land (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 304
Main Authors:	Macedo, Rodrigo Santana, Lima, Renato Pereira, de Almeida Alves Carneiro, Kalline, Moro, Letícia, Refati, Daiana Caroline, Campos, Milton Cesar Costa, Beirigo, Raphael Moreira, da Cruz, Gislayne Kayne Gomes, de Sousa, Antonio Augusto Pereira, de Brito Neto, José Félix, Duarte, Josivânia Araújo, Costa, Deibson Teixeira da
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Basel MDPI AG 01-03-2024
Subjects:	Agricultural development Agricultural ecology Agricultural ecosystems Agricultural management Agricultural production Agriculture agroecosystems services Biodiversity Brazil Carbon Cation exchange Cation exchanging Corn Crop residues Datasets Deforestation Ecosystems Electrical conductivity Electrical resistivity Flocculation Indicators minimum data set Natural resources Nitrogen Principal components analysis Quality assessment Quality control Semi arid areas Semiarid lands Soil chemistry Soil erosion Soil investigations soil physical and chemical indicators Soil quality Soils Sustainability management Sustainable development Vegetation Brazil
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Summary:	The assessment of soil quality is crucial for the sustainable development of agriculture in semiarid regions. Due to their sensitivity to management practices, soil chemical and physical quality indicators are used for investigating soil quality. This study aimed to assess the soil quality of smallholder agroecosystems from the Brazilian semiarid region. Soil physical and chemical attributes were screened using principal component analysis (PCA) and integrated into a weighted additive soil quality index (SQI). Soil quality was obtained using linear and non-linear scoring methods, a total data set (TDS), and a minimum data set (MDS). The soil quality of the agroecosystems was designated as being of moderate grade. The MDS for soil quality assessment includes cation exchange capacity, C stock, exchangeable sodium percentage, flocculation degree, pH, electrical conductivity, available P, and K+ from twenty-five indicators of the TDS. This MDS mainly reflects the input of manure and crop residues associated with moderate weathering of easily weatherable minerals given the semiarid conditions. The SQI obtained can be used to synthesize the information of the TDS and is a valuable tool to indicate the soil quality of agroecosystems; thereby, it can be used with indicators of sustainable management for application at a regional scale.
ISSN:	2073-445X 2073-445X
DOI:	10.3390/land13030304