TITLE:
Residual Effects of the Organic Amendments Poultry Litter, Farmyard Manure and Biochar on Soybean Crop
AUTHORS:
Alexandre Martins Abdão dos Passos, Pedro Milanez de Rezende, Everson Reis Carvalho, Andréia Marcilane Aker
KEYWORDS:
Glycine max, Integrated Production, Organic Wastes, Sustainability, Yield
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.5 No.14,
December
10,
2014
ABSTRACT: The use of organic wastes, as an alternative to inorganic fertilizer,
can be an important strategy for Brazilian and tropical agriculture. Despite
the importance, few field studies have been done for evaluating organic amendments
on soybean crops in Brazil. The study aimed to evaluate the residual effects of
the organic amendments poultry litter, farmyard manure and biochar combined
with mineral fertilizer on some agronomic attributes of a soybean crop. A field
experiment was carried out in a split-split-plot scheme, with three replicates
in a randomized block experimental design. The organic sources (plots) at rates
of 0, 3, 6 and 9 Mg·ha-1 (subplots) combined with 0, 100, 200, 300
and 400 kg·ha-1 (sub subplots) of a mineral fertilizer were applied
in 2008. In 2009, only the mineral fertilizer was used on the soybean crop. As aresult, all evaluated attributes were influenced by the treatments, except for the
number of grains per pod. The application of poultry litter provided the
highest yield (3715 kg·ha-1 using 9 Mg·ha-1 of the
source). A synergistic effect between organic amendments and mineral fertilizer
was observed. It was found the possibility of decrease doses of mineral
fertilizers by prior use of organic amendments. The most effective dose
combination application is 5.5 Mg·ha-1 of organic amendments
associated with 200 kg·ha-1 of mineral fertilizer to provide optimum
yield. The use of organic amendments, rich in nutrients, is a technology to sustainably
increase the soybean grain yield.