Influence of soil management and crop rotation on characteristics that define the industrial quality of wheat

Abstract

Wheat quality is affected by genetic and environmental factors such as soil, climate and cultural traits. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of soil management and crop rotation systems on characteristics that define wheat industrial quality (hectoliter weight, thousand-kernel weight, milling quality, alveograph characteristics, sodium dodecyl sulphate microsedimentation test and falling number). The experimental design used was in complete randomized blocks, with split plots and three replications. Main plot consisted of the soil management systems (no-tillage system, conventional tillage with disc and moldboard plough and minimum tillage) and the subplot consisted of the crop rotation systems (monoculture, one winter and two winters without wheat). Conventional soil preparations with discs' plough reduced the falling number; the crop rotation systems with two winters without wheat increased the hectoliter weight; the monoculture of this cereal reduced the hectoliter weight, increased the gluten strength and the values obtained in the microsedimentation test with sodium lauril sulphate; the interaction of soil management, crop rotation system and year of management affected the weight of one-thousand grains and the year of cultivation had great influence in all characteristics of the industrial quality of wheat.