Abstract
Abstract Fertilization greatly affects coconut productivity; nevertheless, information on crop nutrition is relatively scarce for coconut in the state of Pará, Brazil. This study evaluated the effect of fertilization with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg) on the nutritional status and coconut yield under the edaphoclimatic conditions of the municipality of Moju, Pará State (Brazil). The experiment was conducted for 10 years on a SOCOCO® Farm and used a randomized block design with three replications. Three levels of P, K, and Mg were used in presence and absence of N. Response to fertilization in the treatments was studied in terms of leaf concentration of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) and micronutrients (B and Cl). We also assessed the number of coconuts/plant/year, fresh albumen weight (FAW)/coconut and FAW/ha/year. The results were subjected to the analysis of variance (p<0.05) and the means compared by the Tukey test. In general, N fertilization did not influence concentration of macronutrients and micronutrients in leaves. In turn, P, K and Mg fertilization influenced nutrition of coconut palm. P and K fertilizations, isolated or in combination, increased the production of coconut/plant and FAW/ha. From the 6th year of plant age, 54 kg/ha/year of P2O5 and 96 kg/ha/year of K2O are indicated for the coconut culture in the region of the current study. N fertilization did not influence production parameters and Mg fertilization increased production in the presence of K fertilization.
Highlights
Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important crop for food security and income generation, as well as the production of many products (LINS and VIEGAS, 2008); coconut has become an important agricultural activity for the Brazilian economy (FRÓESJÚNIOR et al, 2019)
Areas cropped with coconut palms reach roughly 12 million ha worldwide and Indonesia, the Philippines, and India account for 73%
The results were subjected to the analysis of variance (p
Summary
Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important crop for food security and income generation, as well as the production of many products (LINS and VIEGAS, 2008); coconut has become an important agricultural activity for the Brazilian economy (FRÓESJÚNIOR et al, 2019). Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important crop for food security and income generation, as well as the production of many products (LINS and VIEGAS, 2008); coconut has become an important agricultural activity for the Brazilian economy Areas cropped with coconut palms reach roughly 12 million ha worldwide and Indonesia, the Philippines, and India account for 73%. Of global production (FAOSTAT, 2018), yielding income through the export of coconut copra and oils (BRAINER, 2018). Coconut crops in Brazil cover roughly 216,000 ha. The northeastern region accounts for 74% of the national production, southeastern region responds for 13%, and the northern region accounts for 12%. Pará has the largest area cropped with coconut in the country, totaling 18,600 ha, accounting for 93% of production with an average yield 9.35 t/ha (IBGE, 2018).
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