The success of agriculture begins with correct soil management

Soil management is the way to achieve success in agricultural activities. Several soil characteristics are relevant, mainly those related to physical attributes, such as location, relief, vegetation, types and degrees of erosion, water supply (climate), impediments to mechanization, and whose agricultural use also depends on infrastructure and conditions. socioeconomic. A perfect understanding of the soil, the elements that make it up as well as its characteristics, allows us to understand the basis for correct soil management, aiming for effective and durable agriculture.

This process consists of a set of measures taken annually and over the long term to improve and maintain crop productivity; they complement each other and are linked to the exploration mode. Good planning and careful application of agronomic methods guarantee a high yield of quality products and reduce the negative impact of the crop on the environment.

The starting point is the classification of the soil, later with knowledge of its physical and chemical characteristics, it is possible to correctly manage irrigation, acidity correction and fertilization. These practices can be more efficient when we use precision agriculture, allowing crop productivity and environmental quality to be increased. Using this basic knowledge, mechanized operations will be inserted into the agricultural production system. Machines are used to improve plant development. These operations are the way to increase the overall efficiency of the process.

Weed control is a relevant problem in agricultural areas. Current recommendations are for the use of integrated soil and crop management systems, involving continuous soil cover practices. Maintaining soil cover is a basic practice for soil conservation. Soil conservation represents the set of agricultural practices aimed at preserving the chemical fertility and physical and microbiological conditions of the soil. Soil cover has organic matter as its main ally, functioning as a component that balances the production system.

With soil conservation, the most fertile layers of the soil are preserved, where the main chemical factors that influence the dynamics of nutrients in the soil occur. Chemical soil management will preserve soil fertility, which is a fundamental tool for obtaining good productivity. Soil fertility and the efficiency of mineral and organic fertilizers are influenced by inorganic reactions and balances and by metabolic processes of microorganisms in the soil.

Knowing the fertility of the soil through chemical analysis together with the texture of the soil and the production potential of the cultivar to be planted is essential for defining the quantities of fertilizers to be used. Efficiency in fertilizer application is linked to adequate acidity correction and the elimination of toxic aluminum from the soil. Liming is responsible for improving the chemical conditions in the surface layers of the soil, in turn, gypsum improves the subsoil, increasing the calcium and sulfur content and reducing Al toxicity in the soil.

With the proper correction of acidity through the application of limestone and the improvement of the subsoil environment through the use of gypsum, the construction of the soil profile is completed with fertilization. Fertilization is the agricultural practice that consists of supplying fertilizers to the soil, in order to recover or preserve its fertility, filling the lack of nutrients and providing the full development of vegetable crops.

Knowledge related to soil and plant properties is how the Specialization Course in Soil and Plant Nutrition organizes class topics to provide students with general knowledge about soil management, with the aim of fully optimizing soil exploitation. of the soil, offering an in-depth understanding of how the soil works and its reactions under different conditions. Within this context, the course addresses several topics that will provide the knowledge to achieve productivity gains, but without forgetting to maintain the quality of the system and soil preservation.