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Abstract
Abstract The use of organic waste as components of substrate to produce fruit plantlets provides alternative materials, easily available and low cost. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of substrate and biofertilization with cow urine on the growth of cupuaçu plants (Theobroma grandiflorum) in an organic production system. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 12 replications including four types of substrates (base mixture; base mixture + coconut fiber; base mixture + cocoa shell and base mixture + sand) with or without biofertilizer application totalizing 96 experimental units. Substrate and biofertilizer influenced the gas exchange and growth of T. grandiflorum plants. The interaction between these two factors significantly affected the dry matter, relative growth rate, net photosynthetic rate, and content of P, K and Mn in the leaves. Each factor, substrate and of cow urine application, independently, influenced the chlorophyll index, the leaf area, diameter, and height of the cupuaçu plants and the contents of N, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe and Cu in the leaves. The base mixture substrate (composed by soil and organic compost) and fertilization with 1% of cow urine can be indicated to T. grandiflorum plantlets organic production.
Highlights
Agroforestry systems for commercial and homegrown orchards have been adopted to increase the value of products from the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon, especially in the north and south of the state of Roraima and in the south and extreme south of Bahia (Marques et al, 2016)
The substrate, which is made up of physical, chemical and biological fractions, is the environment where the roots grow and develop (KÄMPF, 2000). It consists of mineral and organic particles, containing pores occupied by water and/or air, influencing root absorption capacity, and, plantlets development (SUGUINO et al, 2011)
The beneficial influence of coconut fiber as a substrate conditioner was shown in the net photosynthetic rate (A) of biofertilized plantlets, with an increase of up to 104% when compared with the other treatments, and the lowest value was observed in plantlets cultivated in Base mixture (BM)-S substrate (Table 2). This result may be associated with the 10% increase observed in the chlorophyll index (CI), which, in turn, was influenced by the greater increase in N (20%) found in the BM-CF substrate (Table 3)
Summary
Agroforestry systems for commercial and homegrown orchards have been adopted to increase the value of products from the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon, especially in the north and south of the state of Roraima and in the south and extreme south of Bahia (Marques et al, 2016). The cultivation system generally used for cupuaçu tree plantations is below productive potential, mainly due to inadequate management, beginning with the production of plantlets with low agronomic quality (LIMA-PRIMO et al, 2018). This production is influenced by internal factors, such as seed quality, and external factors, such as substrate and the fertilizer used (FERREIRA et al, 2009). The substrate, which is made up of physical, chemical and biological fractions, is the environment where the roots grow and develop (KÄMPF, 2000) It consists of mineral and organic particles, containing pores occupied by water and/or air, influencing root absorption capacity, and, plantlets development (SUGUINO et al, 2011). It is possible to obtain such conditions with the addition of conditioners to the substrate, which can be acquired from organic residues from agricultural industries (ARAÚJO NETO et al, 2015)
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