Abstract
ABSTRACT There is a great interest to reduce doses and increase efficiency of inputs in agriculture. One alternative to lower doses of N fertilizers in corn is seed inoculation with diazotrophic bacteria, which can fix atmospheric N in soil. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of N doses-in the absence and presence of Azospirillum brasilense-on plant nutritional status at different growth stages and on seed yield of corn. The experiment was conducted during the 2011/2012 production season on a typical cerrado soil in Uberlândia, Triângulo Mineiro. The experimental design was randomized blocks with six repetitions. The treatments consisted of five N doses and the absence or presence of Azospirillum brasilense (100 mL ha-1) as a seed inoculant. A commercial product with minimum concentration of 2x108 CFU mL-1 100 mL ha-1 was used. Inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense did not significantly affect corn macronutrient content and yield, except for foliar calcium and potassium at 200 kg N ha-1 at the V8 stage. Corn yield increased with N doses up to 150 kg N ha-1.
Highlights
Corn is one of the most cultivated cereals in the world due to its various forms of use and yield potential
The experiment was conducted during the 2011/12 production season on two adjacent plots on Fazenda Experimental Capim Branco (18°55’23"S, 48°17’19"W and 872 m altitude), which belongs to the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), MG
This stage is characterized by rapid P uptake, its accumulation in plant vegetative parts is low, as about 80 to 90% of absorbed P is translocated to kernels (Coelho et al, 2010)
Summary
Corn is one of the most cultivated cereals in the world due to its various forms of use and yield potential. The area planted with corn reached 6.6951 million hectares under the first crop in 2014 – a decrease of 1.3% relative to the previous year. This year adverse weather conditions decreased corn seed output by 6.8%, from 34,576,700 tons to 32,223,500 tons. This demonstrates the need for alternative crop management programs that could guarantee yield and, profit for the farmer (CONAB, 2014). One of the main limitations to achieve high corn yields is related to the management of nitrogen fertilization. Deficiency of one of them may disrupt metabolic processes, and cause a deficiency of one of the macronutrients, such as N (Coelho et al, 2012)
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