Effect of treated sewage application via fertirrigation on soil and on Brachiaria crop

• Grant number: 12/12923-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering - Soil and Water Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Rogerio Teixeira de Faria
• Grantee: Rogerio Teixeira de Faria
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: José Renato Zanini

Abstract

Population growth concentrated in urban areas has been increasing significantly the production of sewage effluents. Due to the high cost of treatment systems, there is need to promote the reuse of wastewater. The high consumption of water in irrigation and lack of alternative water sources make the reuse of sewage water a highly promising option in this activity. This research has as objective to evaluate the effect of treated sewage effluent (TSE) application, via fertirrigation, on soil and on Brachiaria crop, by quantifying of: a) response of dry matter yield and forage quality of Brachiaria to the application of TSE, b) export of macro and micronutrients from the soil by harvesting forage, and d) changes in physical and chemical properties of soil. Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu will be cultivated under irrigation with different application rates obtained from the TSE Treatment Plant Sewer of Jaboticabal, SP. The experiment will be conducted in the experimental area of the Rural Engineering Department at FCAV-UNESP, from July 2012 to September 2014. Five treatments will be established, corresponding to different application rates of TSE, with four replications. An experimental design named "line of source splinkler system" will be used for distributing irrigation water and TSE, so that the irrigation depth is applied evenly over the experimental area, but with varying rates of application of TSE. The evaluations will consist of: a) monitoring of chemical and physical characteristics of the soil profile in different treatments in early spring and early fall and b) accumulation of crop mass, leaf area index, specific leaf area, nutrients in plant tissue and nutritional quality of pasture harvested during the experimental period. With these results will be adjusted response functions of forage yield to applications of TSE, adjusted curves and nutrient concentrations in Brachiaria leaf and soil as a function of the applied amounts of TSE. The experimental data also enable the calibration of CROPGRO - Brachiaria for long term simulation of forage production and water and nitrogen balances of Brachiaria treated with TSE, under the conditions of Jaboticabal. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SANTOS, GILMAR O.; ROSALEN, DAVID L.; DE FARIA, ROGERIO T.. USE OF ACTIVE OPTICAL SENSOR IN THE CHARACTERISTICS ANALYSIS OF THE FERTIGATED BRACHIARIA WITH TREATED SEWAGE. Engenharia Agrícola, v. 37, n. 6, p. 1213-1221, NOV-DEC 2017. (12/12923-3)

SANTOS, GILMAR O.; ROSALEN, DAVID L.; DE FARIA, ROGERIO T.. USE OF ACTIVE OPTICAL SENSOR IN THE CHARACTERISTICS ANALYSIS OF THE FERTIGATED BRACHIARIA WITH TREATED SEWAGE. Engenharia Agrícola, v. 37, n. 6, p. 9-pg., 2017-11-01. (12/12923-3)