The variability and the spatial dependence attributes of the following plant and soil: a) the soybean yield (SY) in no-tillage and irrigated, b) the macroporosity (MA), c) microporosity (MI), d) total porosity (TP), e) and bulk density (BD), in depths of 1 (0-0.10m), 2 (0.10-0.20m) and 3 (0.20-0.30 m), in a Red Latosol of the Engineering college of the São Paulo State University (FE/UNESP) in the Ilha Solteira campus, located in Selvíria County, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, were analyzed in the agricultural year of 2004/05. The main goal was to study the variability and the linear and spatial correlations among the attributes (plant and soil), aiming to select an index of soil physical quality with good capacity to represent the soybean yield. A geostatistical grid to collect soil and plant data was installed, with one hundred and twenty four sample points, in an area of 4000m². The linear relationship between soybean yield and physical attributes of soil studied was low. So, there was a direct spatial relationship between SY and MA1 (0-0.10m), as well as between SY and MA2 (0.10-0.20m). The MA1 showed its best index of the soil physical quality, when it was destined to estimate the soybean yield on no-tillage.
soil compactation; macroporosity; microporosity; Glycine max
