Abstract
Sewage sludge from treatment plants is an important source of N and organic matter for agriculture. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of sewage sludge and mineral fertilization on the soil chemical properties and production of five pineapple cultivars. The study was conducted in 2 x 5 factorial scheme, consisting of two different fertilizers (sewage sludge and mineral fertilizers), combined with five pineapple cultivars (‘Pérola’, ‘Vitória’, ‘Smooth Cayenne’, ‘MD-2’, and ‘IAC Fantástico’). Sewage sludge fertilization favoured soil fertility by promoting a decrease in the pH and increase in the content of soil organic matter, phosphorus, calcium, iron, and zinc, compared to soil with mineral fertilization. In pineapple plants, sewage sludge fertilization provided statistically similar yields and physic chemical fruit characteristics compared to mineral fertilization. Among cultivars, the ‘Smooth Cayenne’ presented the highest yield (125 t ha-1), followed by cultivars ‘MD-2’ and ‘IAC Fantástico’, with intermediate yields of 98 and 90 t ha-1. Cultivars ‘Pérola’ and ‘Vitória’ presented lower yields. In this context, it was observed that sewage sludge can be used in pineapple cultivars, as an alternative source of nutrients to partial replaces inorganic fertilization.
Highlights
Sewage sludge is a material abundant in organic matter and essential elements to plants that can be used in agriculture (Berton & Nogueira, 2010; Nicolás et al, 2014; Qayyum et al, 2015; Li et al, 2020; Rehman & Qayyum, 2020)
For canonical discriminant function (CDF) 2, mineral fertilization causes a reduction in soil pH, P content, and an increase in K content in the soil (Figure 2, Table 3). These results indicated that the available forms of P supplied via mineral fertilization in tropical soils under pineapple cultivation are quickly drained into non-labile forms
Sewage sludge can be used in pineapple crops as a source of nitrogen in replacement to mineral fertilization
Summary
Sewage sludge is a material abundant in organic matter and essential elements to plants that can be used in agriculture (Berton & Nogueira, 2010; Nicolás et al, 2014; Qayyum et al, 2015; Li et al, 2020; Rehman & Qayyum, 2020). Soils located in regions of tropical climate are poor in nitrogen, phosphorus, and exchangeable bases, and agronomic practices are required in order to improve their chemical conditions for the planting of species of economic interest. In this sense, the application of sewage sludge has increased soil fertility and productivity in various crops, such as corn, barley, sugarcane, rice, and wheat (Latare et al, 2014; Nascimento et al, 2015; McCray et al, 2017; Bastida et al, 2019; Mohamed et al, 2019). According to Bittencourt et al (2017), the sludge applied to agricultural areas in the state of Paraná provided 90% of limestone (PRNT 75%), 69% of nitrogen, 83% of P2O5 and 35% of the K2O demanded by agricultural and forestry crops
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