Structural characteristics of elephant grass fertilized with organic composted waste from production and slaughter of small ruminants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2017v38n3p1521Keywords:
Composting, Fodder biomass, Pennisetum purpureum, Water use efficiency.Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the morphophysiological characteristics of irrigated Pennisetum purpureum cv. Cameroon subjected to doses of an organic compost from waste generated by production and slaughter of small ruminants. The experiment was carried out in a grassland, during four growth cycles of 60 days. The area is located in the Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos unit, in Sobral - CE, Brazil. Treatments consisted of organic compost doses (0, 13.3, 26.6, 39.9, 53.2 and 79.8 Mg ha-1) plus a mineral fertilization (nitrogen and potassium) at doses equivalent to 720 and 900 kg ha-1 year-1, respectively. The experimental design was arranged in completely randomized blocks, totaling four blocks with seven treatments each, in a split plot scheme with repeated readings over time. The plots corresponded to seven doses of an organic compost and an additional treatment (mineral fertilizer), and subplots to four growth cycles. The variables analyzed were total herbage biomass (THB), canopy height (CH), tiller population density (TPD) and water use efficiency for green leaf biomass production (WUEGLB) and green stem biomass (WUEGSB). In the first cycle, TPD decreased linearly with increasing doses of the compost, with 47 tillers m2 at the dose of 79.8 Mg ha-1, while THB and WUEGLB variables behaved quadratically, with a maximum point of 23.53 Mg DM ha-1 cycle-1, and 16.33 kg DM mm-1 for the doses of 66.52 and 62.94 Mg ha-1 of the organic compost. We concluded plant structural characteristics and water use efficiency were responsive to applications of the organic compost, and we recommend the dose of 67.7 Mg ha-1.Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Semina: Ciências Agrárias
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Semina: Ciências Agrárias adopts the CC-BY-NC license for its publications, the copyright being held by the author, in cases of republication we recommend that authors indicate first publication in this journal.
This license allows you to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, remix, transform and develop the material, as long as it is not for commercial purposes. And due credit must be given to the creator.
The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their sole responsibility.
The magazine reserves the right to make normative, orthographic and grammatical changes to the originals in order to maintain the cultured standard of the language and the credibility of the vehicle. However, it will respect the writing style of the authors. Changes, corrections or suggestions of a conceptual nature will be sent to the authors when necessary.