Abstract
The experiment was conducted under controlled conditions in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará, Brazil, to evaluate the agronomic efficiency of phosphate fertilizers with different solubilities on the cultivation of sorghum in a Luvisol. The experimental design comprised randomized blocks in a 2 × 6 factorial scheme (two genotypes and five phosphorus treatments plus the control, without phosphorus). The treatments were: monoammonium phosphate, triple superphosphate, sheep manure, organic compost based on livestock residues, and organomineral fertilizer. Three blocks were used, and each plot comprised composed of a pot containing two plants. Sixty-five days after germination, the plants were harvested for evaluation of biometric data, biomass, accumulation of nutrients in the aerial part, soil fertility, agronomic efficiency index of the phosphate fertilizers and triple superphosphate equivalent. The organomineral and triple superphosphate fertilizers had the highest agronomic efficiency for production of sorghum biomass. The more soluble sources (organomineral, triple superphosphate and monoammonium phosphate) enabled a better phosphorus recovery rate and physiological efficiency than the sources with low solubility.
Highlights
Evaluation of the agronomic efficiency of fertilizers on annual crops provides valuable information, especially when considering the possible use of alternative nutrient sources
The soil pH was highest when using Sheep Manure (SM) (6.1); low values for potencial acidity were observed for the control (25 mmolc dm-3), SM (25 mmolc dm-3) and organomineral fertilizer (24 mmolc dm-3)
For BRS Ponta Negra, there were no differences between the fertilizers studied, whereas for the sorghum hybrid, the highest values were obtained for the fertilizers that contained mineral sources
Summary
Evaluation of the agronomic efficiency of fertilizers on annual crops provides valuable information, especially when considering the possible use of alternative nutrient sources. The need for use fertilizers is strong in semiarid regions, owing to the characteristics of low rainfall (±800 mm year-1) and soils with low concentrations of organic matter (OM), nitrogen and phosphorus (Menezes et al, 2012). Farmers in these regions typically have low crop productivity because of small nutrient jas.ccsenet.org. This, together with periods of below-average rainfall, compromises food security (Marengo et al, 2018)
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