Abstract
ABSTRACT Intensive corn farming quickly depletes soil organic matter in the nutrient-poor soils of the Brazilian semiarid region. Application of vermicompost, an excellent organic fertilizer, could help solve that problem. This study evaluated the effect of applying Eisenia fetida vermicompost in the seeding furrows, at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 Mg.ha-1 application rates, on the green ear yield and grain yield of two corn cultivars. Treatments were replicated five times with split-plots (vermicompost application rates within plots) in a completely randomized block design. The number of mature ears, number of kernels per ear (cultivar BR 106), and 100-kernel weight (cultivar AG 1051) were not affected by vermicompost application rate. However, vermicompost application increased total number and weight of unhusked and husked marketable green ears as well as grain yield. Total number of green ears was higher in cultivar BR 106 than in cultivar AG 1051. Conversely, grain yield and total ear weight and marketable weight of unhusked and husked green ears was higher in cultivar AG 1051, but responses in the latter two traits were dose-dependent.
Highlights
Soils in the Brazilian semiarid region usually have low organic matter content, an important soil quality indicator (MANLAY; FELLER; SWIFT, 2007)
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a range of vermicompost application rates on green ear yield and grain yield for two corn cultivars grown under irrigation in the Brazilian semi-arid region
As for the number of marketable husked green ears, cultivar AG 1051 was better than cultivar BR 106 at smaller doses of vermicompost, but the two cultivars did not differ at higher doses of fertilizer (Table 2)
Summary
Soils in the Brazilian semiarid region usually have low organic matter content, an important soil quality indicator (MANLAY; FELLER; SWIFT, 2007). A large number of studies investigated the effects of vermicompost application on crops such as rice, sorghum, and corn (PATIL; SHEELAVANTAR, 2006; SUJATHA et al, 2008; BRITO et al, 2009; LAZCANO et al, 2011; TEJADA; BENITEZ, 2011), likely due to a growing worldwide concern for the sustainability of agricultural systems (GUTIÉRREZ-MICELI et al, 2008). These studies have found positive effects of vermicompost application on crop yields
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