Silicon is considered an important chemical element for rice, because it can improve tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. However, in many situations no positive effect of silicon was observed, probably due to genetic factors. The objective of this research was to monitor Si uptake kinetics and identify responses of rice cultivars in terms of Si uptake capacity and use. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil. The experiment was arranged […]

Soil and fertilizer management during cultivation can affect crop productivity and profitability. Long-term experiments are therefore necessary to determine the dynamics of nutrient and root distribution as related to soil profile, as well as the effects on nutrient uptake and crop growth. An 18-year experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul State (UFRGS), in Eldorado do Sul, Brazil, on Rhodic Paleudult soil. Black oat and vetch were planted in the winter and corn in the […]

The use of mechanistic models based on principles of solute transport may be of great utility to estimate, for example, the impact of eucalypt forest cultivation on the pools and fluxes of nutrient in soils. Among the parameters required by such models are the values of the ion absorption kinetics constants Vmax, Km and Cmin. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the values of Vmax, Km and Cmin for K, Ca and Mg, as well as to […]