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| Author(s): |
Evandro Luiz Schoninger
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/STB) |
| Defense date: | 2014-09-03 |
| Examining board members: |
Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin;
Marcelo Andreotti;
Waldo Alejandro Ruben Lara Cabezas;
José Lavres Junior
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| Advisor: | Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin |
| Abstract | |
The need for nitrogen fertilization of corn crop and the significant losses of N that can occur both from soil and plants foliage are factors that increase production costs. However, with the possibility of sidedress application of N at different corn growth stages and considering that N can be lost as ammonia, and that plants have the capacity to uptake NH3 from the atmosphere by the foliage, it is interesting to measure this pathway of N uptake in agricultural systems in different stages of crop development, in order to provide greater N fertilizer recovery by plants. In this context, this study aimed to: i) evaluate the urea sidedress timing in corn that provides the greater N fertilizer recovery and grain yield; ii) measure the foliar uptake of NH3 volatilized from urea applied on the surface at different corn growth stages, and to evaluate the correlation between the amount of NH3 absorbed and corn leaf area. The study was performed in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, during the growth seasons of 2011/12 and 2012/13. Two field experiments were performed in experimental design of randomized blocks with four replications. The soil of experimental area is classified as Rhodic Haplustox, cultivated under conventional tillage system. In the first experiment, N fertilizer recovery by crop, dry matter yield in different growth stages and grain yield were evaluated as a function of five urea sidedress timing (140 kg ha-1 N), represented by growth stages V4, V6, V8, V10 and V12, and a control without N application. In the second, leaf area was measured and the absorption of volatilized ammonia from urea applied in trays containing the same soil of the experimental area, to avoid that N was exposed to the corn roots, according to five treatments (application times - same as the first experiment). The data were submitted to analysis of variance (p<=0.05) and comparison of means by Tukey test. There was no difference among treatments for dry matter accumulation of shoots in all growth stages. Similarly, there was no increase in grain yield with the N application at different growth stages. However, the N application in the early stages (V4 or V6) provided greater N fertilizer recovery, reaching values of 53 %. In average, the nitrogen volatilized recovered by plants presented values of 3.4, 5.5, 6.2, 9.0 and 14.8 %, respectively, in V4, V6, V8, V10 and V12; approximately 90 % of N absorbed by foliage were retained in the leaves and only 10 % in the stalks. There was a high correlation between leaf area and the percentage of ammonia absorbed by the leaves (r = 0.93, p<=0.05). This occurred because the leaf area is the contact surface of the plant with atmospheric ammonia, confirming the hypothesis that the greater leaf area reflects in greater percentage of leaf ammonia absorption (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 11/07176-1 - LEAF ABSORPTION OF AMMONIA AND CORN YIELD INFLUENCED BY TOP-DRESSED FERTILIZATON SEASON WITH 15N-UREA |
| Grantee: | Evandro Luiz Schoninger |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |