Common bean yield was analyzed in relation to some physical properties of a dystroferric Red Latosol (Typic Acrustox), in the 2006/07 growing season, in Selviria, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The no-tillage crop under center-pivot irrigation was cultivated with a high technological management level. The objective of this work was to select the most representative soil properties to explain the variability in agricultural productivity. A geostatistical grid was installed for soil and plant sampling at 117 points, in a 2,025 m² area with a homogeneous slope of 0.055 m m-1. From the linear and spatial point of view, common bean yield was explained by particle density and soil gravimetric moisture, respectively. Thus, at values of particle density between 1.95-2.20 kg dm-3 and gravimetric moisture between 0.205-0.239 kg kg-1; both measured in the intermediary layer, highest yields (2,200-2,600 kg ha-1) were observed. However, at the high technological management level used in this study, the maximum potential of the mean common bean yield was not reached, since the soil was severely compacted, leading to a decrease of 26.6 %. The mean values of bulk density and the soil index cone, of 1.36-1.41 kg dm-3 and 1.56-3.24 MPa, respectively, typical of compacted clay soils, accounted for the marked decrease in common bean yield.
soil management; no-tillage system; soil physical quality; agricultural sustainability; Phaseolus vulgaris
