A differential Response of Physic Nut Genotypes Regarding Phosphorus Absorption and Utilization is Evidenced by a Comprehensive Nutrition Efficiency Analysis

José Francisco Teixeira Do Amaral,Leonardo Fardim Christro,Lima Deleon Martins,Bruno Galvêas Laviola,Wagner Nunes Rodrigues,Marcelo Antônio Tomaz

doi:10.5539/jas.v4n12p164

José Francisco Teixeira Do Amaral, Leonardo Fardim Christro + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v4n12p164

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional efficiency of phosphorus in physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) genotypes, under controlled conditions. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, in a factorial scheme 10 x 2, using ten physic nut genotypes, two levels of phosphorus available in the soil (10 and 60 mg dm-3), and four replications. Cultivation consisted of a period of 100 days, with vegetative growth being evaluated in each experimental plot, with the dry matter mass values, phosphorus contents in the vegetative parts, nutritional efficiency indices, and alpha parameter also being obtained. The results show that the physic nut genotypes present greater vegetative growth, dry matter mass accumulation, P content, absorption efficiency and translocation at the high level of phosphorus available in the soil. Genotype CNPAE-C2 is the most efficient and responsive to phosphoric fertilization.

Highlights

The search for sustainable development has been occurring at an accelerated rate on the past decades, through the investigation of viable alternatives to achieve a development that can generate profitability.Over the past few years, a growing concern over environmental issues has been observed around the world
Cultivation consisted of a period of 100 days, with vegetative growth being evaluated in each experimental plot, with the dry matter mass values, phosphorus contents in the vegetative parts, nutritional efficiency indices, and alpha parameter being obtained
The results show that the physic nut genotypes present greater vegetative growth, dry matter mass accumulation, P content, absorption efficiency and translocation at the high level of phosphorus available in the soil

Summary

Introduction

The search for sustainable development has been occurring at an accelerated rate on the past decades, through the investigation of viable alternatives to achieve a development that can generate profitability.Over the past few years, a growing concern over environmental issues has been observed around the world. The concern with the limited fossil oil reserves and the climate change caused by the emission from its combustion have led the search for alternatives. One important alternative that have been studied is the agriculture focused on the production of bioenergy (Falasca et al, 2010). Within this context, the cultivation of oil plants such as the physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) have been growing in importance, aiming at the production of vegetal oil used in the manufacture of biodiesel. Phosphorus (P) is the nutrient that limits the biomass production of plant the most in tropical soils (Novais et al, 2007; Wright et al, 2011; Oladiran et al, 2012). In Brazil, due to the source material and the strong interaction of soil with this nutrient, the use of phosphate fertilizers is recurrent, resulting in increased production costs (Raij, 1991; Resende et al, 2007; Reis et al, 2010; Reis et al, 2011)

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