L'INFLUENZA DELLA GESTIONE DEL SUOLO E DEL TRAFFICO SULLA CONSERVAZIONE DELL'ACQUA E DEL SUOLO IN AGRICOLTURA: UN CASO STUDIO IN PIEMONTE

Climate variability, especially in relation to the distribution and intensity of precipitation, and soil management practices have a strong influence on hydrological processes, such as infiltration and surface runoff formation, and on degradation processes, such as soil compaction and erosion. The monitoring carried out from 2000 to 2017 in a vineyard in Alto Monferrato showed greater surface runoff and soil erosion in the tilled inter-rows than in the grassed ones. Furthermore, the greater compaction of the soil due to the repeated transit of agricultural vehicles causes a considerable decrease in hydraulic conductivity, especially in the tilled inter-rows. From October 2016 to October 2017 a study was conducted to assess the factors that most influence compaction and hydraulic conductivity, depending on the management of the soil adopted (conventional tillage or grass cover) and the number of vehicles transits, through periodic measurements of resistance to penetration, bulk density, water content and hydraulic conductivity of the soil. In this particularly dry period, the resistance to penetration was found to be correlated to the water content and the number of tractor passages, while the hydraulic conductivity of the soil to the water content, the bulk density and the resistance to penetration of the soil.