Resumen

APONTE, Humberto; PAOLINI, Jorge  y  MOGOLLON, José Pastor. EFFECT OF CuJI ASSOCIATEd WITH ALOE ON THE SOIL BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES IN SEMIARId REGIONS OF FALCON STATE ¹. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2011, vol.61, n.1, pp.5-13. ISSN 0002-192X.

The effect of cují, Prosopis juliflora, associated with sábila crop, Aloe vera, on the biological fertility and chemical properties of soil, at the sector El Cebollal of Falcon State, was evaluated. We considered two management conditions: aloe under cují shade and aloe in full sunlight. Nine cují trees were selected for evaluating soils under the canopy of them (1 and 3 m from the base of the tree) and outside it (full sunlight). Were determined: total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus available (Pa), pH, percentage moisture (% H), texture, hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (DAF), dehydrogenase activity (AD), alkaline phosphatase, ß-Glucosidase and urease. The results indicate statistically significant differences between treatments evaluated. There was a gradient in relation to nutrient content and microbial activity, from greater to lesser values, as the distance increases from the base of the tree to the area of full sunlight. We found a high correlation between enzyme activities and levels of soil organic matter (OM), demonstrating the importance of organic carbon in semiarid ecosystems. Cují are widely distributed in the falconian semiarid area because of characteristics that allow their survival in ecosystems with conditions of water stress, so that can acts as fertility islands, contributing to the health and quality of soil , generating a contribution of OM and nutrients under the canopy of the same and increasing the substrate for microbial activity

Palabras clave : Prosopis juliflora; Aloe vera; cropping associated; soil fertility; organic matter; enzyme activity; semiarid zone.