Pig slurry as a nutrient source in wheat/corn succession

Claudir José Basso,Antônio Luis Santi,Marlo Adriano Bison Pinto,Rodrigo Ferreira Da Silva,Diecson Ruy Orsolin Da Silva

doi:10.1590/0034-737x201663030019

Claudir José Basso, Antônio Luis Santi + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-737x201663030019

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Journal: Revista Ceres	Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
Citations: 1	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria

Abstract

ABSTRACT Wheat and corn are important grains in the agricultural scenario of Brazil, and demand adequate supply of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, in crop succession. The use of pig slurry (PS) as a full and/or partial alternative to mineral fertilization in crop areas has been identified as an important alternative for the disposal of this waste. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the utilization of PS as fertilizer in wheat/corn succession under some plant parameters and grain yield. The experiment was conducted under field in randomized block design with four replications and five treatments, three with PS (40, 80, 160 m³ ha-1) and two controls (no fertilization and mineral NPK fertilization), which were applied manually in the soil shortly after sowing the crops. The application of PS proved to be a significant source of nutrients in wheat/corn succession. In comparison to NPK fertilization, this increase was only of 5.4% and 4.7% for wheat and corn, respectively. PS is an efficient alternative and it can be used as a source of these nutrients in wheat/corn succession, and the use of 80 m3ha-1 provides satisfactory results for all evaluated variables.

Highlights

Wheat and corn are staple foods for mankind and corn is important raw material in the formulation of feed for pig and poultry farming
As regards dry matter (DM) yield in the shoots of wheat, Table 2 shows an increase of 26, 52 and 33%, respectively, for doses of 40, 80 e 160 m3 ha-1, compared to the production without fertilizer application, but not significantly differing from that obtained with mineral fertilizer
This DM response may be associated with the amount of nutrients applied via pig slurry (PS), because even at the lowest dose of PS (40 m3 ha-1), sufficient nutrients were added and nutritional demand of N, P and K in wheat was met, to mineral fertilization (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Wheat and corn are staple foods for mankind and corn is important raw material in the formulation of feed for pig and poultry farming. Crop failure or low prices may not be enough to pay even the production costs, in which 40% is consisted of modern inputs (Brum & Heck, 2005). Fertilizers have the most impact on the final cost of corn production (Araujo et al, 2004), which has high demand for nitrogen fertilization (Gomes et al, 2007; Duete et al, 2008), because nitrogen (N) is a vital plant nutrient, responsible for the formation of various organic compounds and activation of enzymes (Malavolta, 2006). Despite the requirement of nitrogen not being as high in wheat compared to corn (Commission of Chemistry and Soil Fertility - CQFS 2004), an adequate supply of N has been considered vital for desirable industrial quality of grains (Cazetta et al, 2008; Pinnow et al, 2013)

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