The combination of compost or biochar with urea and NBPT can improve nitrogen-use efficiency in maize

• Autor(a) principal: COELHO,MICHELLE A.
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: FUSCONI,ROBERTA, PINHEIRO,LILIANE, RAMOS,IONARA C., FERREIRA,ADÃO S.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652018000401695
• topic: composting; pyrolysis; nitrogen uptake; N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide; nutrient assimilation

ABSTRACT The addition of organic residues to agricultural soils has been used as a practical alternative to improve crop quality and health. The objective of this work was to evaluate maize physiological and nutritional responses to the application of compost and biochar combined with urea (N) and N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT). The experiment was performed in plastic pots with 3 kg of soil under greenhouse conditions for 30 days. The compost and biochar were applied at the rate of 0.3 ton ha-1, using an amount of nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) demanded by crop growth. The physiological responses of maize were monitored by measuring the plant height, stalk diameter, leaf chlorophyll content, shoot dry weight and root dry weight. The nutritional responses of maize were assessed by using the nutrient concentration and the total nutrient assimilation by the plants. The results showed that the addition of compost or biochar did not alter the maize physiological response compared to the addition of mineral fertilizer used under the same conditions. However, a difference occurred in the maize nutritional responses to the compost and biochar amendments combined with urea and NBPT. The greatest N concentration in maize was observed in the treatment consisting of biochar combined with urea + NBPT. All the treatments in which compost or biochar was applied in combination with urea and NBPT presented greater total N assimilation compared to the treatment with conventional fertilization. The results of this survey showed that the combination of urea and NBPT improved the nitrogen-use efficiency of maize.