ABSTRACT Garlic (Allium sativum) is normally grown under conventional tillage (CT) with soil being excessively mixed by plowing and harrowing operations that degrade soil structure, increase production costs, and increase environmental contamination. Alternatively, cover crops can be grown and their residues placed on soil surface, enabling garlic to be grown under no-tillage (NT) system. However, for subtropical climate there is little information on the impacts of tillage systems and cover crop species, particularly of their decomposition process and nutrients release, […]

ABSTRACT Sweet potato crops take up large amounts of nutrients, especially nitrogen. In low-fertility soils, the addition of nitrogen (N) increases the sweet potato yield. Green manure may be an alternative method for improving soil quality and supplying nutrients to this crop. This study aimed to evaluate the plant’s nutritional status and the amount of nutrients taken up and removed by sweet potato plants subjected to green manure and mineral N fertilization. The experiment was carried out in the field […]

The current high price of potassium chloride and the dependence of Brazil on imported materials to supply the domestic demand call for studies evaluating the efficiency of alternative sources of nutrients. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of silicate rock powder and a manganese mining by-product, and secondary materials originated from these two materials, on soil chemical properties and on brachiaria production. This greenhouse experiment was conducted in pots with 5 kg of soil (Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo […]

Common bean is traditionally grown on small farms in Brazil, where animal wastes are often used as soil fertilizer. Since this is a short-cycle species, nutrients must be available soon after seed germination, which is not always the case when supplied in the form of organic fertilizers. This study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of different poultry litters in comparison with mineral fertilizers to increase dry matter yield and nutrient release to beans. The experiment was conducted in […]

The application of silicates to soils can result in increased soil cation exchange capacity (CEC), displace anions, especially H2PO4– (diacid phosphate), neutralize the pH and Al toxicity and, in general, increase the nutrient availability to plants. However, calcium silicates may be less efficient than calcium carbonates. To evaluate the effect of calcium carbonate substitution by calcium silicate on the soil chemical properties, especially on phosphorus availability, four experiments were conducted in an entirely randomized design with four replications, in a […]

In western Santa Catarina state, Brazil, swine manure is commonly used as nutrient source for crops. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of swine manure on chemical attributes of a Red Latosol (Hapludox), cultivated with corn under no-tillage conditions. Two experiments were carried out using different rates of liquid swine manure (0, 40 and 115 m-3 ha-1 year-1), applied annually at corn sowing, from 2000 to 2004, in Chapecó and from 2001 to 2004, in Guatambu. After the last […]

Pot experiments are being used to study the potassium supplying capacity of soils. A greenhouse experiment with this objective evaluated samples of two Planosols, a Chernosol and a Gleisol, where flooded rice did not respond to potassium fertilization. The soils were cropped during 50 days with rice (Oriza sativa – BR-IRGA 409). Potassium uptake by the plant shoot, the exchangeable and non-exchangeable soil K, extracted by NH4OAc 1 mol L-1 and boiling HNO3 1 mol L-1, respectively, were evaluated, before […]

A green house experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the application of solid urban waste compost at a rate of 30 g dm-3 (60 t ha-1), on 21 acid and five alkaline soils in relation to their organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorous and sulfur contents. Compost from the São Matheus Treatment Plant (São Paulo, Brazil) was applied with or without dolomitic lime and mineral fertilizers. In alkaline soils, lime was substituted by gypsum. The experiment was carried […]

In order to evaluate the effect of increasing biosolid rates (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 40 t ha-1, dry base) on some chemical soil attributes, and macro and micronutrient growth and uptake in Eucalyptus grandis stands, an experiment was established at the Experimental Station of Itatinga of ESALQ/USP, Itatinga (SP). Some treatments had additional application of K and P, and, as reference, only mineral fertilization was applied in one of them as practiced in some high technology forest companies […]

Zinc solubility in fertilizers (zinc sulfate, zinc oxide, metallic zinc and four FTE) was determined using water, 20 g L-1 citric acid, neutral ammonium citrate (1 + 9) and DTPA as extractant solutions, and the correlation with the availability of this micronutrient for rice and corn plants established. Zinc was most accessible for the plants in sulfate form, followed by oxide, while FTE presented the lowest availability. Neutral ammonium citrate (1 + 9), at a ratio of 1:100 and after […]