This work aimed to mechanically evaluate the effect of soil management between rubber tree rows using heavy bars and rotary mowers and cover crop on the physical properties of the soil. Thus, rubber trees (PB 235 and RRIM 701) were established in a Dystrophic Hapludox soil in Jaboticabal-SP in 1992, so that the spaces between the rows were managed with heavy bars, rotary mowers and tropical Kudzu crop cover (Pueraria phaseoloides). After eight cropping years, some physical attributes of the soil (density, macro and microporosity, particle size and water clay dispersion)were analyzed in the rows. The mechanical and cover crop management in the space between the rows had affected the physical properties of the soil, especially porosity and density although not influencing significantly soil particle size. The greatest physical alterations in the soil in function of the management of the space between the rubber tree rows became evident only in the superficial layer of the soil (0-20 cm). Rotary mower management significantly reduced soil porosity (0.08-0.04 m³/m³) and increased soil density (1.4-1.5 kg/dm³) while management with heavy bars did not degrade the physical properties of the soil compared with the rotary mowers and crop cover using tropical Kudzu.
Hevea brasiliensis; crop management; heavy bars; rotary mowers; physical properties
