Abstract
Determining the sufficiency range of essential macronutrients in plants is of utmost importance for successfully diagnosing the crop’s nutrient demands, thereby improving fertilizer recommendations. The aim of this study was to establish the macronutrients ranges in the cladodes for the evaluation of the nutritional status of ‘Gigante’ cactus pear. Macronutrients contents of cladodes and dry matter yield in 72 plots were used. The experiment consisted of four cattle manure rates (0, 30, 60, and 90 Mg ha-1 year-1), three spacings (1.00 × 0.50, 2.00 × 0.25, and 3.00 × 1.00 × 0.25 m) and two production cycles, arranged in a 4 × 3 × 2 factorial in randomized blocks, and three replicates. Sufficiency ranges of plots with dry matter ≥ 19.93 Mg ha-1 cycle-1 were determined as well as the mathematical chance for plots with dry matter ≥ 23.75 Mg ha-1 cycle-1 and the critical level. The sufficiency ranges, critical level and mathematical chance are, respectively, for each nutrient in g kg-1: N, 12.7-18.5; 14.4; 15.5-19.7; P, 1.0-1.8; 1.0; 0.4-1.7; K, 31.6-44.1; 31.9; 33.7-39.7; Ca, 23.2-32.8; 24.6; 25.0-29.6; Mg, 9.5-14.3; 10.2; 7.4-14.0; and S, 1.1-2.0; 1,1; 1.0-1.8. The mathematical chance model was adequate for all macronutrients except for P and Mg which showed low sufficiency range values. Sufficiency range and critical level of nutrients are useful for diagnosing macronutrient contents and improving the nutritional status of ‘Gigante’ forage cactus pear.
Highlights
Forage cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) is morphologically adapted to harsh conditions of the Brazilian Semiarid, and, for this reason, it can be used as an essential strategy for forage production (Guimarães et al, 2018; Guimarães et al, 2019)
Sufficiency ranges and critical levels have been determined for forage cactus pear in Mexico (Blanco-Macías et al, 2010); though, it is necessary to look into the interactions between genotype, environment, and management under semiarid conditions of Bahia state
Basic data from Donato et al (2014b, 2016, 2017) and Barros et al (2006) were used in this study: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), dry matter (DS), and crude protein (CP) contents, which were determined in samples collected in newly mature cladodes; the green mass yield (GMY), dry matter yield (DMY), and macronutrients uptake of forage cactus pear
Summary
Forage cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill) is morphologically adapted to harsh conditions of the Brazilian Semiarid, and, for this reason, it can be used as an essential strategy for forage production (Guimarães et al, 2018; Guimarães et al, 2019). There is demand for studies on determining optimum concentrations and/or sufficiency ranges of nutrients to aid the nutritional evaluation of the crop. Determining sufficiency ranges or critical levels of nutrients in plant tissues is fundamental for nutritional diagnosis (Lelago et al, 2016). Sufficiency ranges and critical levels have been determined for forage cactus pear in Mexico (Blanco-Macías et al, 2010); though, it is necessary to look into the interactions between genotype, environment, and management under semiarid conditions of Bahia state. We aimed to establish the sufficiency ranges of macronutrients in tissues of cladodes for the evaluation of the nutritional status of forage cactus pear
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