The sustainability of irrigated rice (Oryza sativa L.) in lowland soils is based on the use of crop rotation and succession, which are essential for the control of red and black rice. The effects on the soil properties deserve studies, particularly on soil compaction. The objective of this study was to identify compacted layers in an Albaqualf under different cultivation and tillage systems, by evaluating the soil bulk density (Ds) with Gamma Ray Computed Tomography (TC). The analysis was carried out in a long-term experiment, from 1985 to 2004, at an experimental station of Embrapa Clima Temperado, Capão do Leão, RS, Brazil, in a random block design with seven treatments, with four replications (T1 - one year rice with conventional tillage followed by two years fallow; T2 - continuous rice under conventional tillage; T4 - rice and soybean (Glycine Max L.) rotation under conventional tillage; T5 - rice, soybean and corn (Zea maize L.) rotation under conventional tillage; T6 - rice under no-tillage in the summer in succession to rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum L.) in the winter; T7 - rice under no-tillage and soybean under conventional tillage rotation; T8 - control: uncultivated soil). The Gamma Ray Computed Tomography method did not identify compacted soil layers under no-tillage rice in succession to rye-grass; two fallow years in the irrigated rice production system did not prevent the formation of a compacted layer at the soil surface; and in the rice, soybean and corn rotation under conventional tillage two compacted layers were identified (0.0 to 1.5 cm and 11 to 14 cm), indicating that they may restrict the agricultural production in this cultivation system on Albaqualf soils.
compaction; cultivation systems; lowland soils; irrigated rice
