Resumen de tesis. Coupling pesticides fate modelling and conservation cropping systems to reduce the agriculture footprints on ecosystems

Abstract

[EN] The main objective of this thesis was to study under real field conditions (experimental plots) the effect of conservation agricultural practices including intermediate cover crops, the accumulation of crop residues on the soil surface (mulching), non-tillage, and direct seeding, on the environmental fate of three herbicides, S-metolachlor (SMOC), foramsulfuron (FORAM) and thiencarbazone-methyl (TCM). The study was carried out through: 1) the evaluation of the dissipation, persistence, distribution and/or mobility of the herbicides in the soil profiles under conventional and conservation cropping systems, 2) the changes in soil microbial communities influenced by these agronomic practices as indicators of soil quality and conservation, and 3) the modelling of the herbicides’ environmental fate using PRZM (Pesticide Root Zone Model) and MACRO (Water and solute transport in macroporous soils) models, that were parameterised and validated with data measured under real field conditions to predict the impact and viability of these agronomic practices on soil sustainability and surface and groundwater quality in the long-term.