A comparison was made of two adjacent sites: one used predominantly for cane
production since 1985, the other a tract of undisturbed native vegetation. The soil, a
sodic dermos01ic redoxic hydrosol (gleyed podzolic), was sampled at each site for a
range of physical and chemical analyses.
The cultivated site demonstrated reduced soil density and increased total
organic carbon levels in the 0.15-0.45 m layer of soil. However, despite these
favourable changes, there was no improvement in soil stability as evident in the
increased propensity for the cultivated soil to most rapidly slake in the top 0.4 m.
There was a marked decline in microbial biomass carbon in the cultivated site, compared
to the uncultivated site; a noted inverse relation with the organic carbon levels.
Subsoil compaction (0.65 m to 1.1 m) was greater in the cultivated site.
The potential benefits of controlled traffic with minimal cultivation on soils
such as this site are discussed. Restricting wheel compaction solely to the inter-row
will ensure long-term benefits of cultivation in the plant row.