Tiller dynamics in Piatã palisade grass submitted to nitrogen fertilization

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the residual effect of nitrogen fertilization applied at the time of the waters on the demography of tillers of Urochloa brizantha cv. Piata kept under cut simulating manning continues in the dry season. The experiment was installed in the farm Capim Branco da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), located in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. It was established the Piata grass (Urochloa brizantha cv BRS Piata) in September 2011 in an area of 9 m 2 plot -1 . The experimental design was a completely randomized block design, with four replications, with treatments distributed in a 4 x 5 factorial scheme, in which the first factor doses of urea (0, 100, 200, 400 kg ha-1 of N), demarcated in four applications always performed after the demotion of experimental units and the second factor was the time of evaluation (May, June, July, August and September). Performed the evaluations of the tillering dynamics during five months, assessing rate of appearance, mortality and survival, as well as the stability index of the population and population density, analyzing data by the method of Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK). The use of N doses did not affect the tillering of Piata grass in the dry season, due to the implementation of this have occurred with low water availability in the soil. The development of the plant is linked to the amount of water present in the soil, reducing your energy expenditure, consequently decreasing your development and production.