The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of different soil tillage and crop rotation systems in the restrictive physical attributes and plant production of grain crops of two layers of soil. The experiment was carried out in Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil, a dystrophic Red Latosol, after more than two decades without application of limestone. Treatments tested were three soil tillage and three crop rotations, to assess the effect on grain yield and dry mass of shoots of crops. The effect of these treatments on the soil physical attributes (soil bulk density, soil porosities, natural clay, soil mechanical resistance and saturated soil hydraulic conductibility) was also measured by the soil layers analyzed. The interaction between management of soil and crop rotation influenced the yield of grain crops of wheat and sorghum, in addition to the mass of air part and soybean crop. Soil physical attributes were not influenced by the interaction of factors studied, being little influenced by crop rotation. In all treatments, physical attributes results indicated a layer (0 to 6.7 cm) not compacted and another (6.8 to 20 cm) compacted. In the 0 to 6.7 cm layer, the differences of physical attributes were not important between the treatments. In the compacted layer, the notill has zero value for least limiting water range thus being considered restrictive to the development of plants.
