Abstract
The creation of proper soil fertility is fundamental to the agroecological transition phase and guarantees the sustainability of organic agribusiness. In a randomized complete block design with a 3 x 2 factorial scheme with 1 additional treatment (control, without organic fertilizer), we tested three poultry litter rates (7, 14, and 21 Mg ha-1) at sowing or splitting between sowing (30%) and side-dressing (70%) for two summer corn whole-plant silage crops and for the soil chemical attributes. The splitting of the poultry litter rate during the rainy season preserves the soil K content, prevents the accumulation of soil P and increases the efficiency of the increasing yields of the organic whole-plant corn silage crop. The reapplication of pre-sowing poultry litter can lead to an accumulation of P and Ca in the soil but favors fresh matter and cob dry matter yields in the dry season. The splitting of the poultry litter rate for whole-plant corn silage can guarantee technical and environmental sustainability in rainy years, but on the other hand, the reapplication of this organic fertilizer only at pre-sowing can increase the fresh matter yield and protein quality of organic whole-plant corn silage cultivated in an Inceptisol in the dry season.
Highlights
IntroductionThe concept of agroecology defined as a political stratagem to meet the conventional technical standards of modern agriculture, is covered with a ‘scientific aura’ of techniques without scientific support (Navarro, 2013)
Ammonium (NH4+-N) accumulation occurred on the soil surface due to lower aeration when increasing poultry litter (PL) rates were lightly incorporated (Pengthamkeerati, Motavalli, Kremer, & Anderson, 2006), and higher NH4+-N nitrification was observed with PL incorporation into the soil in relation to its application to the surface due to the closer contact of the organic fertilizer with soil nitrifying microorganisms (Rogeri, Ernani, Lourenço, Cassol, & Gatiboni, 2015)
The splitting of PL rates resulted in fresh matter yields (FMY) increases (p < 0.05) of 88.5% compared to 66.9% obtained with solely pre-sowing rates in the first year (Figure 2a)
Summary
The concept of agroecology defined as a political stratagem to meet the conventional technical standards of modern agriculture, is covered with a ‘scientific aura’ of techniques without scientific support (Navarro, 2013). This concept does not consider that there is an inverse relationship between the capitalization degree of family farmers and the adoption of agroecological practices, that reduce the economic risk of agricultural activity (Assis & Romeiro, 2005). In a transition phase, when the conversion of mineral N from fertilizer to organic sources occurs, a highly demanding crop such as corn requires two or more years to reach maximum yield via the accumulation of mineralized N (Pang & Letey, 2000). In the organic production of corn in a crop-livestock integration system, Novakowiski, Sandini, Falbo, & Moraes (2013) observed that PL rates with a maximum technical efficiency of 9.0 and 12.0 Mg ha-1 corresponded to maximum grain yields of 7,654 and 10,931 Mg ha-1, respectively
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