Solos plínticos impactando o uso da terra na região de Sikasso, Mali

Abstract

This study occurred inside the international cooperation extension project, in which the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA) is involved, entitled "Preservation of the Productive Potential of Cotton in Producing Areas in Mali - Cotton Soils". Mali and other countries in the Sudanese-Saheliana zone have most of their territory composed of desert or semi-desert areas, which makes them difficult to produce food, fiber, and energy, without irrigation. Malian soils have being cultivated in dryland agriculture systems (90% of the total cultivated area), constituting the basis for food production, and most of them have the influence of plintitization. Plintitization is the pedogenetic process where iron (Fe), when reduced under excess of water, is solubilized, and mobilized in the soil profile, being re-precipitated when it found oxidizing conditions. They are generally not considered for agricultural use, mainly due to difficulties in mechanization, as well as low natural fertility and organic matter content. So, this work aimed to classify and characterize plinthic soils of two areas of the Sikasso region in Mali, comparing between these sub-environments and assisting in their use and management viability. The soils were characterized according to their morphological, physical, and chemical attributes. Descriptive statistics and regression were performed for some attributes. The morphology of these soils indicated that the occurrence of litoplinthic horizon (F) is somethat common in Mali, which is not so common in Brazilian plinthic soils. The soils have viability for satisfactory yields, with care regarding the technological level and cultivation. Siani is an area that requires less technological intervention than Bandiagara II.