Wood Ash as a Liming Material for Production of Paiaguás Grass Pasture in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

ABSTRACT Soil fertility is essential for maintaining pastures. For this reason, fertilizer alternatives are being sought for more sustainable production, such as using wood ash, which has potential as a fertilizer alternative. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the use of wood ash as a liming material associated with two application strategies to the soil. The experiment was carried out at the Federal University of Rondonópolis, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and conducted in two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) corresponding to maintenance periods of grass pasture. The experimental design was a strip-plot design with randomized blocks. Treatments were five rates of wood ash (0, 8, 16, 24, and 32 t ha−1) and two application strategies of wood ash (incorporated and not incorporated into the soil), with four replications. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and regression (p ≤ .05). The increment of wood ash doses positively affected the soil pH. In the second maintenance period (2021) a dry mass (DM) yield was found the highest for the incorporated application of 15.49 t DM ha−1, while the not-incorporated application strategy provided a productivity of 14.02 t DM ha−1. The wood ash doses that provided the highest yield of pasture ranged from 16 to 32 t ha−1. In the evaluated period (2021–2022), the grass pasture was more affected by wood ash doses than by application strategies to the soil.