In agriculture, the search for higher crop yields based on sustainable soil management has led to a gradual pursuit of knowledge of the variables related to production systems. The identification of the causes of variability of these properties has become a part of strategic planning in the sugar and ethanol industry. This study investigated the spatial variability of iron oxides in the clay fraction and its relationship to soil physical and chemical properties in different sugarcane cultivation systems in the region of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State. Two 1-ha plots were outlined in areas with mechanical and manual harvesting systems. Soil samples were taken at 126 points from the 0.00-0.25 m layer in both areas. The mineralogical and chemical data were subjected to geostatistical analyses, to determine the spatial dependence, semivariograms and kriging maps of the properties. To analyze the correlation between the parameters cross-semivariograms were constructed. The spatial variability of chemical properties was greater in areas with mechanical harvesting than burnt harvesting (manual harvesting), whereas the range of the mineralogical properties was largest in the area of green-harvested sugarcane. The properties organic matter, mean crystal diameter goethite had a negatively spatial correlation, while clay was positive correlated with P sorption in the two sugarcane harvest systems.
mechanical harvesting; hand harvesting; sustainable planning; geostatistics
