Minas Gerais state is the largest coffee producer in Brazil. The state contributes with over 50 % of the total production, which is for the most part cultivated in the Cerrado region. This region is outstanding in coffee production due to the advanced technology in mechanization. Consequently, the machine traffic that the soils are subjected to causes concern because of the possibility of widespread soil compaction. Our objectives were (a) to propose load support capacity models to a typical dystrophic Yellow Latosol (LAd) cultivated with coffee as a function of preconsolidation pressure and moisture content; (b) to determine, through the use of this model, the influence of soil management operations on the soil structure at three depths, in the dry and rainy seasons. Soil samples were taken from three depths (0 to 3, 10 to 13 and 25 to 28 cm); thirty samples were collected where there was no traffic and ten samples collected in the traffic line of each equipment, in August 2002 and March 2003, respectively, to quantify its effects on the soil structure in the rainy and in the dry seasons. The undisturbed soil samples were used in the uniaxial compression test. Texture, organic matter, particle density, shrinkage limit, and plasticity limit were also determined. The load support capacity model of the LAd is a function of the preconsolidation pressure and moisture content and is expressed by the equation sigmap = 10(2.72-1.17U) where sigmap means preconsolidation pressure and U means humidity. The effects of the mechanized operations in the coffee plantation were quantified by the load support capacity model and through its use it was possible to quantify the influence of the management operations in the Yellow Latosol structure.
soil compaction; coffee; modelling; preconsolidation pressure; traffic
