LONG TERM EFFECT OF THE SEWAGE SLUDGE ON PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRIENT CYCLING IN Eucalyptus grandis STANDS AND IN CULTIVATION OF FOOD PLANTS (SIMULATING CHANGE IN THE AGRICULTURAL USE OF THE SOIL)

• Grant number: 10/00706-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date until: June 01, 2010
• End date until: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Forestry
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Poggiani
• Grantee: Alexandre de Vicente Ferraz
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of sewage sludge as fertilizer and soil conditioner in forestry has been encouraged in several countries, considering the benefits generated, such as: increase in production of vegetable biomass, in organic matter content of the soil and in recycling of nutrients. However, the presence of heavy metals in some sewage sludges, as well as the lack of knowledge about long-term effects of sewage sludge use in agricultural enviroment have led to disposing it into landfills. The hipothesis defended in this research is that sewage sludge applied to the soil as organic fertilizer, even after many years of its aplication, continues to have positive effects on yields and nutrient cycling in eucaliptus stands or in agricultural crops. So, 4 experiments will be installed at the Experimental Station of Forest Science, in Itatinga/SP - Brazil, in which 3 experiments will represent the following forms of eucaliptus management, usualy adopted in Brazil: 1st) thinning, 2nd) driving of the regrowth (in 2nd rotation) and 3rd ) reform of the stand. The 4th experiment will simulate a possible change in the agricultural use of soil, shifting from forest plantation to food crop area, considering possible presence and translocation of heavy metals in the soil-plant sistem. Thus, after many years (1998, 2003 e 2005) since the application of sewage sludge, produced by waste treatment plant of Barueri-SP, in research areas of the Experimental Station of Forest Science (Itatinga-SP), it will be evaluated: eucaliptus growth in management areas of thinning, driving of regrowth and reform of stands; soil fertility variation; production of leaf litter and nutrient cycling in experimental plots of E. grandis. It will also be evaluated the production of biomass and possible assimilation of heavy metals by Lactuca sativa L. (lettuce) and Oryza sativa L. (upland rice).

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)

ALEXANDRE DE VICENTE FERRAZ; FÁBIO POGGIANI. Biomassa, nutrientes e metais pesados em raízes de eucaliptos adubados com diferentes lodos de esgoto. Cerne, v. 20, n. 2, p. 311-320, 2014-06-00. (10/00706-2)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FERRAZ, Alexandre de Vicente. Long term effect of the sewage sludge on productivity and nutrient cycling in Eucalyptus grandis stands and in food plants cultivation (simulating change in the agricultural use of the soil). 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) Piracicaba.