Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the biometric and bromatological characteristics of Urochloa ruziziensis in due to inoculation times with Azospirillum brasilense in the presence or absence of nitrogen fertilization. To do so it was used a randomized blocks design, with factorial scheme 4 × 2, where the first factor consisted the inoculation periods: control; A. brasilense in the seed; A. brasilense at tillering (aerial) and A. brasilense seed + foliar. The second factor constituted in the presence or absence of nitrogen (1000 mg dm³). Evaluations were made in the first, second and third cut, being evaluated the plant height, number of tillers per plant, leaves dry mass, culm+sheath dry mass; crude protein content, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber. The use of nitrogen fertilization increased the productive and bromatological parameters in the crop of U. ruziziensis, however, the use of A. brasilense increased only the height of plants, not influencing the other productive characteristics and the bromatological parameters. It is concluded that the use of A. brasilense, regardless the period it was made, presents inconclusive results for biometric and bromatological characteristics of plants of Urochloa ruziziensis in need of further studies, on the other hand, the nitrogen fertilization brings positive effects over the evaluated parameters on U. ruziziensis.
Highlights
The Brazilian farming and cattle-raising system occupies extensive areas, most of them have a low soil natural fertility and/or are cultivated without mineral fertilization (Barcellos et al, 2008), resulting in a low animal support capacity as consequence of the lower biomass production and of forages with low bromatological quality.The main strategy used to obtain higher productivities and a better pasture quality is in the forage’s choice, being preconized those with good adaptability for the cultivation region favoring the plant development even under adverse climatic conditions (Brâncio et al, 2003)
One alternative to reduce the problems with the low-quality pastures in the farming and cattle-raising system is to use mineral fertilizers, such as the nitrogen (Santini, 2014)
For the fertilization with phosphorus and potassium it was used 300 mg dm-3 of P2O5 as singles superphosphate and 150 mg dm-3 of K2O as potassium chloride (Novais, Neves, & Barros, 1991), before the crop was sowed, with no nitrogen fertilization being made at this moment
Summary
The main strategy used to obtain higher productivities and a better pasture quality is in the forage’s choice, being preconized those with good adaptability for the cultivation region favoring the plant development even under adverse climatic conditions (Brâncio et al, 2003). In this context, one of the most used species in Brazil is the Urochloa ruziziensis which stands out due to its huge dry mass production besides presenting satisfactory contents of proteins and fibers, with good adaptation to the soil and weather conditions (Mattos, Gomide, & Huaman, 2005). One alternative to reduce the problems with the low-quality pastures in the farming and cattle-raising system is to use mineral fertilizers, such as the nitrogen (Santini, 2014)
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