Title : Soil quality indicators sensitive to regenerative agriculture management in the Brazilian semi-arid
Abstract:
Soil quality is as essential as air and water quality for sustaining life and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, studies aimed at identifying practices that promote soil regeneration are particularly important, especially in regions vulnerable to desertification. Agroecology-based regenerative agriculture incorporates management practices that may contribute to the identification of sensitive indicators of soil quality. This study aimed to identify soil quality indicators in sandy soils that are responsive to agroecology-based regenerative management in a semi-arid region of Bahia, Brazil, where desertification processes are a major environmental concern. To achieve this objective, areas under regenerative management for different time periods were selected. Soil samples were collected and subjected to chemical analyses related to soil fertility, physical analyses (particle- size distribution, soil bulk density (BD), particle density (PD), total porosity (TP), penetration resistance (PR), flocculation index (FI), and mineralogical analysis), and biological analyses, including heavy organic matter (HOM), particulate organic matter (POM), and light organic matter (LOM). The results indicated that the indicators most sensitive to regenerative soil management practices were potential cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil organic matter fractions (C-POM, C-LOM, and C-HOM), penetration resistance (PR), flocculation index (FI), and total porosity (TP). Among the four areas evaluated, the site managed under regenerative practices for ten years (MR10) exhibited the most favorable performance in terms of soil quality indicators. Overall, the physical, chemical, and biological indicators evaluated proved effective in distinguishing sandy soil areas under different durations of regenerative management. These findings suggest that agroecosystems managed through agroecology-based regenerative agriculture promote a gradual improvement in soil quality over time.
