The objective of this work was to evaluate the least limiting water range of an Oxisol under a sugarcane cultivation with mechanical and manual harvesting, and to establish the spatial variability relationship between this attribute and crop productivity. The work was conducted in two areas cultivated with sugarcane, one of which was mechanically harvested without burning since 1996, and the other was manually harvested after burning since 1973. The least limiting water range was evaluated by determining the soil resistance to penetration at 0.002, 0.006, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.5 MPa soil-water potentials. The least limiting water range varied with soil management changes in both studied systems, which indicates a greater soil degradation and lower water content in the area under manual harvesting. The greater crop yield concentrates in regions of higher least limiting water range.
soil compaction; soil-penetration resistance; spatial variability
