Nitrogênio e Azospirillum brasilense no desenvolvimento inicial da cana-de-açúcar

Abstract

A study was conducted with the objective of investigating the effects of the interaction between the inoculation of the pre-sprouted seedlings with Azospirillum brasilenseand the nitrogen fertilization in topdressing on the development of sugarcane plants(Saccharum officinarum). Pre-sprouted sugarcane seedlings, produced from 3.0 cm long mini-stems of the RB867515 variety, were transplanted 25 days after sprouting into 12 L plastic pots. The treatments were arranged in a randomized block design, in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme: two inoculation treatments [without (control) and inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense] and five application rates of N fertilizer in topdressing (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mg dm–3of N), with four repetitions. The inoculation with A. brasilensewas carried out in transplanting the seedlings using 4 mL of the inoculum AzoTotal® per seedling, containing the strains AbV5 and AbV6. The nitrogen fertilization in topdressing was performed at 20 days after transplanting the seedlings as urea (45% of N). The results reported that the application of N fertilizer rates in topdressingresulted in a linear increase in plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, number of tillers and dry matter production of plants inoculated with A. brasilense.When the plants were not inoculated with A. brasilense, nitrogen fertilization resulted in an increase also in the number of leaves and tillers per plant. The use of A. brasilenseinoculation in pre-sprouted sugarcane seedlings has a beneficial effect on the development of plants only when associated with nitrogen fertilization in topdressing. Sugarcane plants not fertilized with N have a negative response to inoculation with A. brasilense, indicating the occurrence of possible phytotoxic effects on plant development up to 60 days after transplanting.