Soil-plant attributes and beet production influenced by fertilization with species of Brazilian Caatinga

ABSTRACT:

Plants of spontaneous vegetation of the Brazilian Caatinga bioma have been used as green manure in vegetable production systems in Northeastern Brazil with the aim of increasing the productivity of vegetables and improving the exploitation of the environment. The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of three spontaneous species of the Brazilian Caatinga as green manure in different amounts of biomass in the chemical attributes of soil-plant and in the productivity of beet. The experimental design was of randomized complete blocks with three replications, the treatments being composed of three spontaneous species of the Brazilian Caatinga: hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia); oneleaf senna (Senna uniflora) and roostertree (Calotropis procera) used in five amounts of dry biomass (5.4, 8.8, 12.2, 15.6 and 21.0 t/ha in dry basis) incorporated into the soil. The characteristics evaluated in the soil were the contents of organic matter, aluminum, macronutrients, pH and number of colony-forming units (CFU) in the soil of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes after the harvest. From the plants we evaluated the macronutrient contents in the diagnostic leaf, besides the total and marketable productivity of roots, root dry mass and classified productivity of roots. In general, it can be concluded that the green manure using spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome (hairy woodrose, oneleaf senna and roostertree), provided improvement in the soil chemical properties and beet plants. The green manures obtained from the hairy woodrose and roostertree species were those that provided the best productive performance of beet, with average values of total and marketable productivity of 17.57 and 15.39 t/ha, and 18.74 and 16.33 t/ha, respectively. The addition to soil of 21.0 t/ha of green manure biomass provided the greatest total (21.94 t/ha) and marketable yield (20.58 t/ha) of beet.

Keywords:
Beta vulgaris; Merremia aegyptia; Senna uniflora; Calotropis procera; agronomic efficiency.