Exchangeable potassium reserve in a Brazilian savanna Oxisol after nine years under different cotton production systems

Adequate potassium (K) fertilization is essential for agricultural production in soils of the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado biome) due to the high demand by crops (especially cotton), likelihood of leaching losses, and the dependence on fertilizer importations. Therefore, sustainability requires improvements in the soil efficiency management. This study evaluated the influence of soil management and crop succession or rotation combinations with cotton on K dynamics and exchangeable reserves in the soil profile, and the partial balance of K after nine years of cultivation in a clayey Oxisol in the Cerrado. The soil was sampled in layers up to 100 cm depth in four cotton production systems treatments: 1) conventional soil tillage (CST) with cotton monoculture; 2) CST with annual cotton-soybean-cotton succession; 3) CST with cotton/soybean/maize rotation; and 4) no-tillage system (NTS) with cotton/soybean/maize rotation and Urochloa ruziziensis (ruzigrass) as a cover crop in the off-season after grain crops. The experiment was conducted using a randomized block design with four replications. CST with cotton monoculture favored the leaching of K surplus from fertilization. Crop rotation including ruzigrass in the NTS allowed better control of K dynamics, ensuring its circulation in the soil-plant compartments and reducing leaching. The increased organic matter (OM) in this system enlarges the storage capacity of K in the topsoil. The adoption of no-tillage crop systems integrating ruzigrass is viable to improve the efficiency of K fertilizers in cotton cultivation in highly weathered tropical soils.

Absorção, acúmulo e exportação de macronutrientes no milho doce cultivado em condições de campo / Absorption, accumulation and export of macronutrients in sweet corn cultivated under field conditions

O milho doce é uma hortaliça voltada para o processamento industrial, é ainda pouco difundido para o consumo in natura no Brasil, talvez pelo restrito número de cultivares adaptadas ao clima tropical. Os estudos sobre as práticas de manejo mais adequadas, incluindo a dinâmica de absorção de nutrientes pela cultura, ainda são inexistentes. Portanto, neste trabalho, objetivou-se determinar a absorção, o acúmulo e a exportação de nutrientes no milho doce cultivado em condições de campo. Utilizou-se o híbrido simples Tropical, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, sendo o experimento constituído por nove épocas de coleta (9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72 e 81 dias após a emergência) com quatro repetições. As plantas amostradas em cada época (tratamento) foram cortadas no nível do solo para avaliação da parte aérea e divididas em planta e espigas, que foram utilizadas para a determinação da absorção de nutrientes pela parte vegetativa e sua redistribuição para a espiga. Foram calculadas as taxas de absorção diária dos macronutrientes, bem como as porcentagens de acúmulo de nitrogênio, fósforo, potássio, cálcio, magnésio e enxofre. O padrão de acúmulo de macronutrientes seguiu o acúmulo de matéria seca pelas plantas. A ordem decrescente de acúmulo de macronutrientes na parte aérea foi: K > N > Mg > P > Ca > S. Para a maioria dos nutrientes, o intervalo de máxima absorção foi de 18 a 27 dias após a emergência.

Sweet Corn is a vegetable addressed to industrial processing not widely consumed in natura in Brazil, possibly due to the restricted number of varieties adapted to the Brazilian tropical climate. Studies on the most appropriate management practices, which include the dynamics of nutrient absorption by the culture, are still nonexistent. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the absorption, accumulation and export of nutrients in sweet corn under field conditions. Simple tropical hybrid was used, on an entirely randomized design comprised of nine treatments (9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72 and 81 days after emergence) with four replicates. The plants were sampled in every treatment and cut to the soil surface for shoot (plant and ear) evaluation. Both parts were used to determine the absorption of nutrients by the plant and their transmigration to the ear. Daily nutrient absorption rates, as well as the accumulation percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur were evaluated. The pattern of macronutrient accumulation followed the dry matter accumulation of the plants. The decreasing order of macronutrient accumulation at the shoot was: K > N > Mg > P > Ca > S. Most nutrients had a maximum absorption interval around 18 to 27 days after emergence.