Critical levels for soil attributes in irrigated banana plantations in semiarid region

Celsemy E Maia,Elis R C De Morais

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v19n10p926-930

Celsemy E Maia, Elis R C De Morais

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v19n10p926-930

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Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to estimate the critical levels for soil chemical attributes through the criterion of reduced continuous probability distribution (NCRIz) in areas under irrigated banana cultivation and evaluate soil fertility of low-yield areas in the Apodi Plateau. A dataset composed of analysis of 60 producing areas and their respective yields was used. It was concluded that the method can be used to obtain critical levels for soil chemical attributes and the critical levels obtained for the irrigated areas under banana cultivation corresponded to 7.2 for pH, 0.91 g kg-1 for N, 0.31, 6.34, 2.63, 1.42 and 25.76 mg kg-1 for Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and P, respectively, and 6.43, 1.14, 0.24 and 0.36 cmolc kg-1 for Ca, Mg, Na and K, respectively. In the low-yield areas, the highest deficiencies were of P and Fe, and there was an excess of Mg.

Highlights

Brazil stands out as one of the countries with the largest productions of banana, with total of more than 6.97 million tons in an area of 486,991 thousand hectares in 2011 (FAO, 2011), and a current increasing number of irrigated areas
The extractor is taken into account in the calibration, and the obtained yield and, based on the critical levels, it is possible to define a fertilizer dose to be applied according to the soil analysis
Soil samples were collected in the layer of 0.0-0.2 m using a Dutch auger and the values of pH and the contents of Ca, Mg, K, Na, P, N, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu were determined in the laboratory according to the methodology developed by EMBRAPA (1997)

Summary

Introduction

Brazil stands out as one of the countries with the largest productions of banana, with total of more than 6.97 million tons in an area of 486,991 thousand hectares in 2011 (FAO, 2011), and a current increasing number of irrigated areas. In the case of Ceará, part of the production is concentrated in the irrigated district of Jaguaribe-Apodi, located in the Apodi Plateau, which stands out for the agricultural potential of its soils, originated from limestone, with good natural fertility and flat relief, favorable to mechanization. The critical level for soil nutrients is obtained through calibration experiments at the field, by applying doses of the nutrient and obtaining crop yield. Once the dose with the highest economic efficiency is estimated, the critical level of the nutrient in the soil is obtained by associating the relation to the amounts recovered by the extractor as a function of the applied doses. The extractor is taken into account in the calibration, and the obtained yield and, based on the critical levels, it is possible to define a fertilizer dose to be applied according to the soil analysis. The analytical determination of soil chemical attributes is relatively easy, it is difficult to relate analytical data to phytoavailability and to plant growth/ development (Kopittke & Menzies, 2007)

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