Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrícola e Ambiental - v20n1

Revista Brasileira de
Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental
ISSN 1415-4366
v.20, n.1, p.196, Janeiro, 2016
SUMRIO (CONTENTS)
METEOROLOGIA E CLIMATOLOGIA AGRCOLA
AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY
Procedures for calculation of the albedo with OLI-Landsat 8 images: Application to the Brazilian semiarid Procedimentos para cmputo do albedo com imagens OLI-Landsat 8: Aplicao ao semirido brasileiro
Bernardo B. da Silva, , Alexandra C. Braga, Clia C. Braga, Leidjane M. M. de Oliveira, Suzana M. G. L.
Montenegro & Bernardo Barbosa Junior
MANEJO DE SOLO, GUA E PLANTA

SOIL, WATER AND PLANT MANAGEMENT
Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms and its accumulation in corn plants Contribuio
de formas no-trocveis de potssio para seu acmulo em plantas de milho Montesquieu da S. Vieira, Fbio
H. T. de Oliveira, Hemmannuella C. Santos & Jailma dos S. de Medeiros
Soybean nutritional status and seed physiological quality with swine wastewater Estado nutricional e
qualidade fisiolgica de sementes de soja com gua residuria da suinocultura Olga M. Passarin, Silvio C.
Sampaio, Danielle M. Rosa, Ralpho R. dos Reis & Marcus M. Correa
16
Proline and trehalose in maize seeds germinating under low osmotic potentials Prolina e trealose em
sementes de milho germinando em baixos potenciais osmticos Rafaela J. B. Queiroz & Jairo O. Cazetta
22
Growth and yield of sugarcane as a function of phosphorus doses and forms of application Crescimento
e produtividade da cana-de-acar em funo de doses e formas de aplicao de fsforo Abel W. de
Albuquerque, Leopoldo de A. S, William A. R. Rodrigues, Adriano B. Moura & Manoel dos S. Oliveira Filho
29
Rapeseed population arrangement defined by adaptability and stability parameters Arranjo populacional
em canola definido pelos parmetros de adaptabilidade e estabilidade Cleusa A. M. B. Krger, Sandro L. P.
Medeiros, Jos A. G. da Silva, Genei A. Dalmago, Ana P. F. Valentini & Juliano F. Wagner
36
Soil chemical properties and maize yield under application of pig slurry biofertilizer Atributos qumicos
do solo e produtividade de milho com aplicao de biofertilizante de dejetos sunos Marcelo E. Bcoli, Jos
R. Mantovani, Jos M. Miranda, Douglas J. Marques & Adriano B. da Silva
42
Swine farm wastewater and mineral fertilization in corn cultivation gua residuria de suinocultura e
adubao mineral no cultivo do milho Pmela A. M. Pereira, Silvio C. Sampaio, Ralpho R. dos Reis, Danielle
M. Rosa & Marcus M. Correa
49
Cultivation of cherry tomato under irrigation with saline water and nitrogen fertilization Cultivo do
tomateiro cereja sob irrigao com guas salinas e adubao nitrogenada Ianne G. S. Vieira, Reginaldo G.
Nobre, Adaan S. Dias & Francisco W. A. Pinheiro
55
Beet cultivation with saline effluent from fish farming Cultivo de beterraba com efluente salino da
piscicultura Welson L. Simes, Jony E. Yuri, Miguel J. M. Guimares, Jos E. dos Santos & Emanoel F. J. Arajo
62
CONSTRUES RURAIS E AMBINCIA

RURAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND AMBIENT
Spatial variability of air temperature in a free-stall in the Northeastern semi-arid region of Brazil
Variabilidade espacial da temperatura do ar de um free-stall na regio semirida nordestina do Brasil Indira C.
M. Gonalves, Silvia H. N. Turco & Clvis M. C. Ramos
67
ARMAZENAMENTO E PROCESSAMENTO DE PRODUTOS AGRCOLAS

STORAGE AND PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Insecticide activity of clove essential oil on bean weevil and maize weevil Atividade inseticida do leo
essencial de cravo-da-ndia sobre o caruncho-do-feijo e o gorgulho-do-milho Carlos F. Jairoce, Cristiano M.
Teixeira, Camila F. P. Nunes, Adrise M. Nunes, Claudio M. P. Pereira & Flvio R. M. Garcia
72
GESTO E CONTROLE AMBIENTAL

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT
Spatialization of soil quality index in the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema, Minas Gerais Espacializao
do ndice de qualidade do solo na Sub-Bacia das Posses, Extrema, Minas Gerais Gabriela C. Lima, Marx L.
N. Silva, Diego A. F. de Freitas, Bernardo M. Cndido, , Nilton Curi & Marcelo S. de Oliveira
78
Carbon stocks of an Oxisol after thirty-eight years under different tillage systems Estoques de carbono
em Latossolo aps trinta e oito anos sob diferentes sistemas de cultivo Sulamirtes S. de A. Magalhaes,
Fabricio T. Ramos & Oscarlina L. dos S. Weber
85
MQUINAS AGRCOLAS
AGRICULTURAL MACHINES
Droplets spectrum of air-assisted boom sprayers under different environmental and operational
conditions Espectro de gotas de pulverizadores hidrulicos assistidos a ar sob diferentes condies
ambientais e operacionais Robson S. Sasaki, Mauri M. Teixeira, Haroldo C. Fernandes, Srgio Zolnier,
Christiam F. S. Maciel & Cleyton B. de Alvarenga
92
ISSN 1807-1929
Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental
v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016

Campina Grande, PB, UAEA/UFCG http://www.agriambi.com.br
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v20n1p3-8
Procedures for calculation of the albedo with OLI-Landsat 8 images:

Application to the Brazilian semi-arid
Bernardo B. da Silva1, 2, Alexandra C. Braga2, Clia C. Braga2,
Leidjane M. M. de Oliveira3, Suzana M. G. L. Montenegro4 & Bernardo Barbosa Junior5
Fundao de Amparo Cincia e Tecnologia de Pernambuco. Recife. PE E-mail: bbdasilva.ufpe@gmail.com (Corresponding author)
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande/Programa de Ps-Graduao em Meteorologia. Campina Grande, PB. E-mail: alexandrachavesb@gmail.com;
celia@dca.ufcg.edu.br
3
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Caruaru, PE. E-mail: leidjaneoliveira@hotmail.com
4
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco/Departamento de Engenharia Civil. Recife, PE. E-mail: suzanam.ufpe@gmail.com
5
Universidade Federal da Paraba. Joo Pessoa, PB. E-mail: bernardobarbosaj@yahoo.com
1
2
Key words:
radiance
spectral reflectance
atmospheric transmittance
net radiation
ABSTRACT
The surface albedo plays an important role in the exchanges of energy and mass in the planetary
boundary layer. Therefore, changes in albedo affect the balance of radiation and energy at the
surface, which can be detected with its monitoring. Albedo determination has been performed
through various sensors, but there is not yet any publication dealing with albedo calculation
procedures using OLI (Operational Land Imager) - Landsat 8 images. The objective of the
study is to present the procedures for computing the albedo with OLI images and map it in
irrigated areas of the So Gonalo Irrigated District, PB, Brazil. Images of the year 2013, path
215 and row 65, were selected. The data necessary for calculating the albedo were extracted
from each image metadata: additive and multiplicative terms of radiance and reflectance, and
sun elevation angle. There were large differences between the albedo values of irrigated plots,
water bodies and native vegetation. The albedo obtained with OLI images provides a higher
degree of differentiation of the various types of land use, due to the substantial increase in
the radiometric resolution of this new sensor.
Palavras-chave:
radincia
reflectncia espectral
transmitncia atmosfrica
saldo de radiao
Procedimentos para cmputo do albedo com imagens

OLI-Landsat 8: Aplicao ao semirido brasileiro
RESUMO
O albedo da superfcie desempenha papel importante nas trocas de energia e massa na
camada limite planetria. Neste sentido, alteraes no albedo modificam os balanos de
radiao e energia superfcie, que podem ser detectadas com seu monitoramento. A
determinao do albedo tem sido feita atravs de diversos sensores mas ainda no foram
publicados procedimentos de clculo do mesmo com imagens do OLI (Operational Land
Images) do Landsat 8. O objetivo do estudo apresentar, em detalhes, procedimentos de
cmputo do albedo com imagens OLI e mapear o mesmo em reas do permetro irrigado
So Gonalo, PB. Foram selecionadas imagens do ano 2013, rbita e ponto 215 e 65,
respectivamente. Os dados necessrios ao cmputo do albedo foram extrados do meta dados
de cada imagem, quais sejam: termos aditivo e multiplicativo da radincia e reflectncia
das bandas de 2 a 7 e ngulo de elevao do Sol. Verificaram-se grandes diferenas entre
os valores do albedo das parcelas irrigadas, corpos dgua e de vegetao nativa. Concluise que o albedo obtido com as imagens OLI apresenta maior grau de diferenciao dos
diversos tipos de uso da terra, resultado do aumento substancial da resoluo radiomtrica
deste novo sensor.
Protocolo 390-2014 03/11/2014 Aprovado em 03/07/2015 Publicado em 01/12/2015
Bernardo B. da Silva et al.
Introduction
Net radiation plays a fundamental role in biophysical
processes involving exchanges of energy and mass in the
planetary boundary layer, since it constitutes the main
energy source used in the heating of soil and air, and in plant
evapotranspiration (Silva et al., 2005a; Wang & Davison, 2007;
Giongo et al., 2010; Lopes et al., 2013; Souza et al., 2014).
Surface albedo substantially affects net radiation; thus, many
satellites carry sensors (TM - Landsat 5, ETM+ - Landsat 7,
AVHRR-NOAA, MODIS - Terra/Aqua, ASTER - Terra, among
others) that determine and monitor the Earths surface albedo.
Therefore, its monitoring has increasingly gained importance,
since the alterations caused by natural and/or anthropic
phenomena on the surface of the planet can be detected by
orbital sensors, besides the role played by the albedo in climatic
modeling.
There are different algorithms for the calculation of surface
albedo that use radiometric measurements of AVHRR bands 1
and 2, some of which relate the spectral planetary reflectances
of these bands to the surface albedo (Wydick et al., 1987; Hucek
& Jacobowitz, 1995). More recently, Liang (2000) obtained, for
various orbital sensors, equations that allow calculating the
albedo through the linear combination of the monochromatic
reflectivity of each one of these bands in the solar radiation
domain. Souza et al. (2014) applied the parametrization
proposed by Tasumi et al. (2008) with high and low loadings
of aerosols in different regions of Brazil and data of the MODIS
sensor. However, the model proposed by Zhong & Li (1988)
employed by Bastiaanssen et al. (1998) in the SEBAL (Surface
Energy Balance Algorithm for Land) and initially applied to
TM - Landsat 5 images, combines simplicity and precision. This
model has been widely used in many studies on the balance of
radiation (Silva et al., 2005b; 2011; Lopes et al., 2013; Gusmo
et al., 2012), energy (Silva & Bezerra, 2006; Allen et al., 2007;
Arraes et al., 2012; Bezerra et al., 2014; Machado et al., 2014;
Mattar et al., 2014) and in researches analyzing alterations in
land use and occupation (Rodrigues et al., 2009; Giongo et al.,
2010; Oliveira et al., 2012).
The albedo has also been used in climatic modeling
and Krayenhoff & Voogt (2010) studied its influence on air
temperature, while Wang & Davison (2007) evaluated the
impact of climatic variations on the albedo of temperate regions
in Canada. Loew & Govaerts (2010), evaluated the consistency
of long-term albedo data obtained with the Meteosat First
Generation, used in climatic modeling. In addition, it should
be pointed out the role of cloud albedo in climatic monitoring
and analysis studied by Mueller et al. (2011).
In most studies using TM and ETM+, particularly in
applications of radiation and energy balance, the albedo is
initially obtained through combinations of reflective bands
without atmospheric correction and then the atmospheric
effects are corrected based on the formulation proposed by
Zhong & Li (1988), intensively used by Bastiaanssen et al.
(1998). More recently, Tasumi et al. (2008) developed an
algorithm for the atmospheric correction of each one of the TM
and MODIS reflective bands, but based on the same correction
model proposed by Zhong & Li (1988). The main difference is
R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016.
that in the latter the correction is performed in the planetary

albedo, while in the former the atmospheric correction is
performed band to band, obtained through a radiative transfer
model. This is the method adopted by the METRIC (Mapping
Evapotranspiration with Internalized Calibration), a variation
of the SEBAL and also used in mountainous areas (Allen et al.,
2007; Tasumi et al., 2008).
Although albedo has been used in many researches
involving radiation and energy balances based on TM or
ETM+ images, there are no published studies that allow its
determination using images from OLI (Operational Land
Imager), aboard Landsat 8, launched on February 11, 2013
by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
Therefore, this study aimed to present the procedures that
allow albedo determination with OLI-Landsat 8 images and
use them in the mapping of areas under irrigation and native
vegetation in the So Gonalo Irrigation District-PB, Brazil.
Material and Methods

The studied area comprehends part of the Piranhas-Au
river basin, in the semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil, and
is located in the states of Paraba and Rio Grande do Norte. The
area comprises seven sub-basins: Pianc, Peixe, Alto Piranhas,
Mdio-Piranhas, Espinharas, Serid and Baixo Piranhas. In the
Alto Piranhas sub-basin, there is the main irrigation district of
the Paraba state, called So Gonalo Irrigation District - SGID,
which is located 15 km distant from the municipality of SousaPB (6.84 S; 38.32 W; 234 m), approximately 440 km from
the state capital, Joo Pessoa. The studied area encompasses,
besides the So Gonalo Irrigation District (SGID I and II),
the So Gonalo dam, areas of native vegetation, rainfed
agriculture and areas with large soil exposure (Figure 1).
The climate of the studied region is classified as semiarid,
DdA, according to the methodology of Thornthwaite & Matther
(1944), with rainy season concentrated from January to May
(Table 1). The annual means of air temperature, rainfall and
potential evapotranspiration - ETp are respectively equal to
26.6 C, 904.1 mm and 1418 mm, but minimum and maximum
temperatures range from 19.4 to 22.3 oC, and 31.5 to 35.6 oC,
Figure 1. Section of OLI-Landsat 8 image on September

12, 2013, in RGB453 composition and highlights for the
areas of Sao Gonalo Irrigation District (SGID) I and II and
other areas selected for analysis of the results
Procedures for calculation of the albedo with OLI-Landsat 8 images: Application to the Brazilian semi-arid
Table 1. Mean rainfall - MR (mm), standard deviation - SD (mm) and monthly mean air temperature - Ta (oC), according
to the records of the Academic Unit of Atmospheric Sciences of the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG)
respectively. The prevailing soils in the area are Latosols and

Cambisols and the natural vegetation is classified as contact
between Caatinga and Seasonal Forest and Pioneer Formations
with Fluviomarine Influence.
Five OLI-Landsat 8 images, path 216 and row 65, generated
in 2013 and obtained from the United States Geological
Survey - USGS (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) were used in
the study. These images correspond to the Landsat 8 overpass
approximately at 09 h 45 min (local time), and have spatial
resolution of 30 m and spectral resolution of 12 bits, but
are available in 16 bits, which means an intensity in each
pixel between 0 and 65,535 gray levels, ensuring a higher
detailing degree of the generated information. In addition,
meteorological data recorded close to the Landsat 8 pass
over the studied area were used, in order to determine the
atmospheric transmittance used in the atmospheric correction.
The selected days and the data used in the image processing
are shown in Table 2.
The albedo was calculated using the following equation
(Zhong & Li, 1988; Bastiaanssen et al., 1998):
=
( toa atm )
2
oc
(1)
where:
toa - planetary albedo of each pixel or albedo without
atmospheric correction;
atm - atmospheric albedo; and
oc - atmospheric transmittance in the solar radiation
domain, which can be obtained by the equation (Allen et al.,
2002, 2007):
0.4
0.00146Po
W
oc= 0.35 + 0.627 exp
0.075
(2)
cos Z
K t cos Z
where:
Po - local atmospheric pressure (kPa);
Kt - air turbidity coefficient (Kt = 1.0 for clear air and Kt
= 0.5 for extremely turbid or polluted air; Kt = 1.0 was used in
this study);
Z - Sun zenith angle (extracted from the image metadata);
W (mm) - precipitable water, obtained as a function of

RU (%); and
Po - according to the equation of Allen et al. (2002).
=
W 0.14ea Po + 2.1
(3)
where:
ea - partial pressure of atmospheric water vapor (KPa).
The value of atmospheric albedo can be obtained through
a radiative transfer model and, in general, is situated between
0.025 and 0.040 (Allen et al., 2002). The value of 0.03 was
adopted in the present study. The determination of albedo
without atmospheric correction (toa) was performed through
linear combination of the monochromatic reflectance (rb) of
the reflective bands (from 2 to 7) of the OLI - Landsat 8 (Eq.
5), according to the following equation:
toa = p 2 r2 + p3 r3 + p 4 r4 + p5 r5 + p 6 r6 + p 7 r7 (4)
where the reflectance of each one of the bands (from 2 to 7)
was obtained by Chander & Markham (2003):
rb =
( Add
ref ,b
+ Mult ref ,b ND b )
cos Zd r
(5)
where:
Addref,b and Multref,b - represent additive and multiplicative
terms of the reflectance of each band, extracted from the
metadata of each image (group = radiometric_rescaling), as
well as the Sun zenith angle - Z;
NDb - intensity of each pixel and band (value between 0
and 65365);
b - subscript representing each one of the six OLI bands; and
dr - corresponds to the correction of the eccentricity of
the terrestrial orbit, given by:
1
dr =
d ES
(6)
where:
Table 2. Variables used in albedo calculation for the studied area: Sun elevation angle - E (degree), cosine of the Sun
zenith angle - cos Z, air temperature - Ta (oC), relative air humidity - RU (%), atmospheric pressure - Po (kPa) and
atmospheric transmittance - oc, referring to the moment of the satellite overpass on the days selected for the study, and
Earth-to-Sun distance - dES (astronomic unit) in each selected day
dES - Earth-to-Sun distance (astronomic unit) on the day

of each image, also extracted from the metadata.
For the determination of each weight (pb), it is necessary
to estimate the solar constant (Kb, W m-2 m-1) associated with
each one of the OLI reflective bands and, for this, the Eq. 7 was
used according to Chander & Markham (2003).
kb =
L b
rb cos Zd r
(7)
where:
Lb (W m-2 sr-1 m-1) - radiance of each pixel of the b-band
and the other terms have already been described.
For the determination of the Lb of each pixel and band, the
additive (Addrad,b) and multiplicative (Multrad,b) terms relative
to the radiance were used, also extracted from the metadata of
each image, calculated according to the equation:
=
L b Add rad,b + Mult rad,b ND b
(8)
The value of each weight (pb) of each spectral band was

obtained by the ratio between the kb of that band and the sum of
all the kb values used in the calculation of the albedo, similar to
what has been done in the SEBAL and METRIC (Bastiaanssen
et al., 1998; Allen et al., 2007; Tasumi et al., 2008).
Results and Discussion

The data extracted from the metadata, which were used in
the calculation of the radiance and reflectance of OLI-Landsat
8 bands 2 to 7, for two of the five days selected for the study are
shown in Table 3. For each one of the selected days, the values of
Addrad and Multrad were different. However, with respect to the
reflectances, these factors remain constant, which constitutes
an important simplification in the process of calculation of
these reflectances. Many researches on radiation balance
with Landsat 5 and 7 images have used maximum (Lmax)
and minimum (Lmin) radiances in the process of conversion
of the gray level into spectral radiance (Bastiaanssen et al.,
1998; Allen et al., 2002; 2007; Silva et al., 2005b; 2011). These
values were updated over time but remained constant for some
years (Chander & Markham, 2003; Chander et al., 2009). In
the case of OLI-Landsat 8, however, for each image obtained
in 2013 used in this study, the values of Lmax and Lmin
suffered changes. Therefore, it is recommended to determine
radiation based on the additive and multiplicative terms (group

= radiometric_rescaling), both in the calculation of spectral
radiance and in the determination of spectral reflectance, for
integrating the same group of metadata.
There are different techniques for the determination of
surface albedo through orbital images. However, the most
used one with Landsat images in researches involving radiation
and energy balances results from the proposal developed by
Zhong & Li (1988). This technique requires the identification
of the weights or relative contribution of each spectral band
in the composition of the albedo in the entire solar radiation
spectrum, which is widely known (Bastiaanssen el al., 1998;
Allen et al., 2002; 2007; Silva et al., 2005a,b). For Landsat 8,
these weights have not yet been published and one of the
objectives of this study is their determination, specifically for
OLI. For this, the specific solar constant (Kb) of each one of
the OLI bands from 2 to 7 was obtained based on Eq. 7. The
values of Kb (W m-2 m-1 sr-1) for the five selected days are
shown in Table 4. As observed for each OLI image, these values
suffered a sharp change, resulting from the alterations of Lmax
and Lmin, which were used for the radiometric calibration
of TM and ETM+ images. Thus, based on these results, it is
recommended not to use the methodology that employs Lmin
and Lmax, but only the reflectances (Eq. 5) and the planetary
albedo (Eq. 4) with the mean weights represented in Table 5.
As can be seen in this Table, these values can be considered as
Table 4. Values of the solar constant - Kb (W m-2 m-1 sr-1)
specific for the OLI-Landsat 8 bands from 2 to 7, in different
ordinal dates (OD)
Table 5. Weights to be used in albedo calculation, specific

for the OLI-Landsat 8 bands from 2 to 7, in different ordinal
dates (OD)
Table 3. Values extracted from the metadata of the ordinal date - OD 175 (June 24) and 303 (October 30), with the
respective multiplicative (Mult) and additive (Add) factors used in the calculation of radiance (Mult rad and Addrad) and
reflectance (Multref and Addref) of each pixel of the studied area
Procedures for calculation of the albedo with OLI-Landsat 8 images: Application to the Brazilian semi-arid
constant, since they remained virtually unchanged along the
five evaluated days. This result suggests that the obtained mean
values, which are shown in Table 5, must be applied.
Surface albedo is one of the most important components
of the surface radiation balance, which explains the great
attention paid to its monitoring, especially in studies on
changes in land use (Arraes et al., 2012; Oliveira et al., 2012).
The albedo maps obtained with OLI images for the days of June
24 (OD = 175), September 12 (OD = 255) and October 14 (OD
= 287) in the year of 2013 are represented in Figure 2. Areas
with albedo lower than 9% comprehend the water bodies (So
Gonalo dam and small lakes, riverbeds and streams). Urban
areas, in general, showed albedo higher than 25%, which was
also observed in areas of soil with great exposure. Irrigated
plots in the SGID showed albedo from 16 to 18%; however,
in newly planted orchards (low vegetation index), the higher
soil exposure caused an increase in albedo. For the images
of OD = 223 and OD = 303, in the pixels corresponding to
the clouds, the albedo was generally higher than 80% and,
in areas shaded by the clouds, the values were lower than
those of water, which is due to the method of calculation of
the incident solar radiation in each pixel. The incident solar
radiation was considered as constant; however, in the shades,
it is significantly lower than in the other pixels, since under
those conditions only solar radiation falls on the area. Thus, it
is recommended the use of the most precise estimation of solar
radiation in these pixels. Given the great heterogeneity of the
area, the differentiation between irrigated crops and Caatinga,
or soil with great exposure, is not very clear, particularly in the
image of June, with storage of moisture in the soil, for being
close to the rainy season.
Four targets were selected to verify albedo values in the
three days without clouds, which are shown in Table 6. The
location of each one of the selected targets is shown in Figure 2.
According to Table 6, water albedo is between 3 and 8%, while
in the pixel of the urban area it remained between 28.3 and
31.2%. On average, values were equal to 5.3, 18.2, 16.6 and
30.1% in the areas of the So Gonalo dam, coconut orchard,
central pivot with coconut trees and the urban area of Souza,
respectively. These results agree with those of Silva et al. (2011),
who obtained albedo higher than 80% for soils without vegetal
cover and between 15 and 20% for irrigated crops. In general,
values corresponding to agricultural areas showed variation
Table 6. Albedo of four targets for three selected ordinal

dates (OD)
of 15-20% in all the studied targets. Areas with fruit crops,

in Petrolina (Silva et al., 2005a), showed virtually constant
values, around 15%. These values are consistent with the albedo
estimated for fields under high vegetation cover, derived from
the sensors TM - Landsat 5 and ETM+ - Landsat 7.
Between TM and OLI images, there was a systematic
difference between albedo values; those obtained with OLI
were higher than those generated with TM - Landsat 5.
There are at least two explanations for this difference: one is
related to the fact that OLI images (16 bits) have radiometric
resolution substantially higher compared with TM (bits),
and the other related to the environmental, since in 2012 and
2013 the rains were much lower than climatological normals,
which characterize these years as years of drought with great
coverage and intensity. This also affected irrigated areas,
because irrigators had to ration water due to the decrease in
the water volume of the So Gonalo dam.
Conclusions
1. The solar constant values, specific of each one of the
OLI-Landsat 8 bands, used in the albedo calculation, showed
great differentiation between the studied days.
2. The weights used in the planetary albedo calculation
(without atmospheric correction) can be represented by the
obtained mean values, because they did not vary much.
3. The albedo of irrigated areas was more clearly different
from native vegetation areas in months that are further away
from the rainy season.
4. Albedo images show great degree of detail for the
different types of land use and occupation, due to their high
radiometric resolution.
Acknowledgments
To the National Council for Scientific and Technological
Development (CNPq), for the research productivity grant and
PhD scholarships to some of the authors, and to the Research
Support Foundation of Pernambuco (FACEPE) for the support
to the project, which resulted in the present publication. The
authors extend their thanks to the Journals reviewers for their
analysis, criticism, corrections and suggestions.
Literature Cited
Figure 2. Thematic maps of surface albedo from Landsat
8 products in the So Gonalo Irrigation District (SGID),
referring to the ordinal dates (OD) 175, 255 and 287 in
2013
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.915, 2016

Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms

and its accumulation in corn plants
Montesquieu da S. Vieira1, Fbio H. T. de Oliveira2,
Hemmannuella C. Santos3 & Jailma dos S. de Medeiros4
Instituto Federal de Educao, Cincia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte/Diretoria Acadmica. Ipanguau, RN. E-mail: monti_br@yahoo.com.br
Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-rido/Departamento de Cincias Ambientais e Tecnolgicas. Mossor, RN. E-mail: fabio@ufersa.edu.br
3
Universidade Federal da Paraba/Centro de Cincias Humanas, Sociais e Agrrias/Departamento de Agricultura. Bananeiras, PB, E-mail: hcs.ufpb@gmail.com
(Corresponding author)
4
Universidade Federal da Paraba/Centro de Cincias Agrrias. Areia, PB. E-mail: jailmagronomia@gmail.com
1
2
Key words:
Northeastern soils
mineralogy
K forms
K availability
ABSTRACT
The state of Paraba, Brazil, has soils from well- to poorly-developed, in which potassium (K)
is found in different levels, forms and, consequently, with varying availability to plants. The
objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of non-exchangeable K forms to corn
plants in 12 soils from Paraba state, along four successive cycles. The experimental design
was completely randomized block with three replicates and the 24 treatments consisted of
the combination between two K levels (0 and 100 mg dm-3) and 12 soils. Before and after
each cycle, subsamples of 0.2 dm3 were collected in each pot for the determination of nonexchangeable K (Kne), exchangeable K (Ke) and soluble K (Ks). For each cycle, dry matter
production, dry matter K content and plant K content (absorbed K) were determined. In
the studied soils, the amounts of absorbed K after successive cycles were higher than the
amounts of exchangeable K released, which shows the contribution of non-exchangeable
K forms to corn nutrition.
Palavras-chave:
solos do Nordeste
mineralogia
formas de K
disponibilidade de K
Contribuio de formas no-trocveis

de potssio para seu acmulo em plantas de milho
RESUMO
No estado da Paraba ocorrem desde solos bem desenvolvidos at solos pouco desenvolvidos
em que o potssio (K) encontrado em diferentes teores, formas e, consequentemente,
com disponibilidade variada para as plantas. Neste sentido se objetivou, com este trabalho,
avaliar a contribuio das formas no trocveis de K para plantas de milho em 12 solos do
estado da Paraba por meio de quatro cultivos sucessivos. O delineamento experimental
utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados com trs repeties e os 24 tratamentos consistiram
da combinao de duas doses de K (0 e 100 mg dm-3) e 12 solos. Antes e aps cada cultivo
de milho foram retiradas, de cada vaso, subamostras de 0,2 dm3 para determinao dos
teores de K no-trocvel (Knt), K trocvel (Kt) e K solvel (Ks). Para cada cultivo foram
determinados a produo de matria seca, o teor de K na matria seca e o contedo de
K na planta (K absorvido). Nos solos estudados as quantidades de K absorvido aps os
cultivos sucessivos foram maiores que as quantidades de K trocvel liberadas o que evidencia
contribuio de formas no trocveis de K para a nutrio do milho.
10
Montesquieu da S. Vieira et al.
Introduction
Potassium (K) is the second most required element by
the majority of the cultivated plants; its absorption by plants
triggers a continuous process of depletion of the different forms
of K, which is more pronounced when the contents of available
K are lower. The supply of K is buffered by its exchangeable
and non-exchangeable forms, adsorbed with low and high
binding energy in the exchange sites, respectively (Kaminski et
al., 2007). Thus, the K of the structural forms of feldspars and
micas and the K retained in the interlayers of some expandable
2:1 clay minerals are considered as non-exchangeable K forms
that can act as a source of K to plants (Fraga et al., 2009).
In well-developed soils, the exchangeable K is the most
important reserve of available K to plants, which justifies
the determination of only this chemical form to evaluate its
availability in these soils. Currently, it is estimated that there
are more than 30 chemical extractors to evaluate the available
K in the soil, and 1 mol L-1 NH4OAc at pH 7.0 is the standard
extractor to evaluate the exchangeable K in the soil (Helmke
& Sparks, 1996).
Extractors such as Mehlich-1 and mixed ion exchange resin
only estimate the available K in the soil and are the most used
in Brazil (Raij et al., 2001); in the state of Paraba, Mehlich-1
is the only K extractor used in routine analysis. However, all
soils, to a greater or lesser degree, have K in forms that are nonexchangeable or not conventionally extracted to evaluate K
availability, which contribute to the K nutrition of the cultivated
plants (Werle et al., 2008).
Since the state of Paraba has soils from well- to poorlydeveloped, with great variations in their chemical, physical and
mineralogical characteristics (Brasil, 1972), it is essential to
evaluate their capacity to supply K to plants, through its nonexchangeable forms. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the
contribution of non-exchangeable K forms to corn plants in 12
soils of the state of Paraba, Brazil, along four successive cycles.

Samples from the layer of 0-30 cm of twelve soils from the
state of Paraba, Brazil, were used. The soils were classified
by Brasil (1972) and fit in the new classification proposed

by EMBRAPA (2006) as Yellow Argisol (PA); Gray Argisol
(PAC); Eutrophic Red Argisol (PVe); Red Yellow Argisol
(PVA); Yellow Latosol (LA); Distrophic Red Argisol (PVd);
Regolithic Neosol (RR); Litholic Neosol (RL); Haplic Luvisol
(TX); Haplic Planosol (SX); Fluvic Neosol (RY); and Haplic
Vertisol (VX). The samples were subjected to chemical, physical
and mineralogical analysis (Tables 1 and 2) in the Laboratory
of Soil and Rural Engineering, at the Center of Agricultural
Sciences of the Federal University of Paraba, according to the
methodology described in Donagema et al. (2011).
The liming requirement of the soils was calculated through
the methods of Al3+ neutralization and increase in the contents
of Ca2+ and Mg2+, and through the base saturation method
(Alvarez V. & Ribeiro, 1999), according to Farias et al. (2009a).
After correcting the acidity of all the soils, two doses of
K were applied (0 and 100 mg dm-3) in the form of KCl (A.R.
grade) in solution and the soils were incubated for 21 days.
These two incubation periods were performed with soil samples
(3.2 dm3) inside plastic pots in a greenhouse. After each
incubation period, the samples of all the soils were air-dried,
pounded to break up clods, sieved through a 4-mm screen and
placed back into the pots.
Immediately after the incubation period of K doses with
the soils and before corn planting, a soil sample of 0.2 dm3 was
collected in each pot for the determination of the contents of
exchangeable K; soluble K, extracted with distilled water and
non-exchangeable K, which was estimated by subtracting the
content of exchangeable K, extracted with 1 mol L-1 NH4OAc at
pH 7.0, from the content of K in the soil, extracted with boiling
1 mol L-1 HNO3 (Helmke & Sparks, 1996). For each soil and all
extractors, the soil K contents in mg kg-1 were multiplied by
soil density in order to obtain the results in mg dm-3.
The remaining volume of soil (3.0 dm3) received a fertilization
with macro and micronutrients, except K, according to Farias et
al. (2009b). After fertilization, the soil samples were placed back
into the pots and moistened with an amount of distilled water
corresponding to 50% of soil total porosity.
Immediately after the fertilization with macro and
micronutrients, the 2C577 hybrid corn cultivar was planted.
Table 1. Chemical characteristics of 12 soils representative of the state of Paraba, Brazil (1)
Analysis performed according to the methodologies described in Donagema et al. (2011); (2) EMBRAPA (2006): PA - Yellow Argisol; PAC - Gray Argisol; PVe - Eutrophic Red Argisol; PVA Red Yellow Argisol; LA - Yellow Latosol; PVd - Distrophic Red Argisol; RR - Regolithic Neosol; RL - Litholic Neosol; TX - Haplic Luvisol; SX - Haplic Planosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol; VX - Haplic
Vertisol; OC - Organic carbon. (3)Medeiros et al. (2014); (4)More-developed soils: Ki 2.46; Less-developed soils: Ki 2.46; (5)Alvarez V. et al. (2000)
(1)
Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms and its accumulation in corn plants
11
Table 2. Soil class, geological formation and lithology(2), textural analysis(3) and sampling location of soils representative
of the state of Paraba, Brazil
PA - Yellow Argisol; PAC - Gray Argisol; PVe - Eutrophic Red Argisol; PVA - Red Yellow Argisol; LA - Yellow Latosol; PVd - Dystrophic Red Argisol; RR - Regolithic Neosol; RL - Litholic Neosol;
TX - Haplic Luvisol; SX - Haplic Planosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol; VX - Haplic Vertisol. (2)Brasil (1972); (3)Donagema et al. (2011); (4)Kt - kaolinite; Gb - Gibbsite; Gt - Goethite; Mi - Mica; (2:1): 2:1
mineral; Hm: hematite; Qz: quartz; Fp: feldspar; Minerals are shown in the order of predominance in the soil; (5) More-developed soils: Ki 2.46 (Except RR); Less-developed soils: Ki 2.46.
(1)
Thirty days after sowing, the shoots of the plants in each pot
were cut at a height of 1 cm from the soil and then subjected
to a pre-drying in a greenhouse. The roots were removed from
the pots and the soil adhered to them was initially separated
with tap running water and then using distilled water through
a quick wash.
After plant harvest at the end of the first cycle, a soil
subsample of 0.1 dm3 was collected from each one of the 72 pots
for the determination of the contents of soluble K, exchangeable
K and non-exchangeable K. The remaining volume of soil was
placed back into the pot for the next three cycles, as done for
the first cycle, from sowing to harvest and not allowing the
occurrence of deficiency of other nutrients to plants.
After pre-drying, the material was placed in perforated
paper bags and dried in a forced-air oven at 70 C, until
constant weight. Shoot and root dry matters were mixed,
ground in a Wiley-type mill and mineralized through sulfuric
digestion, and K was determined in the extracts through flame
photometry (Tedesco et al., 1995).
From the values of dry matter production, obtained
through the weighing of the plants in each pot, and K contents
in the dry matter, the total contents of K in the dry matter were
calculated. The amounts of K extracted from the soil by plants
were calculated by dividing the total contents of K in the dry
matter by the soil volume of each pot and were expressed in
the same unity (mg dm-3) used for the extractors.
The amounts of Kne and Ke released after four successive
cycles were obtained by the difference between the initial value
of these K forms and the value obtained after the last cycle.
Both forms were added and the percentages in relation to the
K absorbed by plants were calculated.
Soil fertilization for the other cycles was performed according

to Farias et al. (2009b) and consisted of two applications of N in
the form of commercial urea (60 and 70 mg dm-3). Along with
this last N application, 32.98 mg dm-3 of S [(NH4)2SO4], 40 mg
dm-3 of Ca (CaCl2.2H2O), 72.5 mg dm-3 of Mg (MgSO4.7H2O)
and 50 mg dm-3 of P (NH4H2PO4) were applied.
In the third cycle, 87.5 mg dm-3 of P were applied in the
soils PA, LA, PVe, TX, RY, RL and SX, 75 mg dm-3 of P were
applied in PAC and RL, and 102.5 mg dm-3of P were applied in
PVd, PVA and VX. In addition, all soils received 30 mg dm-3 of
S [(NH4)2SO4] and 0.2 mg dm-3 of B(H3BO3), 2 mg dm-3 of Fe
(FeCl3.6H2O), 1 mg dm-3 of Cu (CuSO4.5H2O), 2 mg dm-3 of
Mn (MnCl2.4H2O) and 2 mg dm-3 of Zn (ZnSO4.7H2O). This
fertilization was performed only once, at sowing.
In the fourth planting, three N doses (commercial urea)
were applied from the 7th day after planting on, consisting
of one application of 60 mg dm-3 and the others of 50 mg
dm-3 each. Along with the first N application, 50 mg dm-3 of
P (NH4H2PO4), 60 mg dm-3 of Ca (CaCl2.2H2O), 20 mg dm-3
of Mg and 28 mg dm-3 of S (MgSO4.7H2O) were also applied.
These fertilizations were used based on expertise and the
identification of possible symptoms of nutritional deficiency.
After each cycle, the procedures of harvest and preparation of
the material for the analysis of plant K contents were repeated.
The statistical analysis consisted of analysis of variance,
regression and correlation.

Mean values of dry matter, plant K content and absorbed
K decreased along the successive cycles (Table 3). Dry matter
12
Table 3. Dry matter production#, plant K content and absorbed K in the four successive corn cycles, as a function of
the K doses added to more- and less-developed soils of the state of Paraba, Brazil
PA - Yellow Argisol; PAC - Gray Argisol; PVe - Eutrophic Red Argisol; PVA - Red Yellow Argisol; LA - Yellow Latosol; PVd - Dystrophic Red Argisol; RR - Regolithic Neosol; RL - Litholic
Neosol; TX - Haplic Luvisol; SX - Haplic Planosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol; VX - Haplic Vertisol. (2)Dry matter was not evaluated because plants died a few days after germination. (3)Parameters
not determined due to the lack or little amount of dry matter for the chemical analysis.
#
Means followed by the same letter do not differ at 0.05 probability level by F test
(1)
production in the first cycle was similar between the two soil
groups, with mean of 23.6 g pot-1 for the more-developed soils
and 24.9 g pot-1 for the less-developed soils.
From the second cycle on, the difference between the
two soil groups became more evident and the dry matter
production in less-developed soils (17.5 g pot-1) was 2.4 times
higher than that observed in more-developed soils (7.4 g pot-1).
In the third cycle, in which corn cultivation was still possible
in all the soils, the dry matter production in less-developed
soils was, on average, 5.6 times higher than in more-developed
soils (Table 3).
In the fourth cycle, plants cultivated in the soils PA and
PAC died a few days after emergence and, in PVA, LA, PVd,
RR and RL, plants showed very limited growth (Table 3)
and severe symptoms of K deficiency in the leaves. The soils
SX, RY and VX, which have the highest contents of clay and
K-source minerals (Tables 1 and 2), were the ones with not
much variation in dry matter production along the corn cycles
and with the highest dry matter productions in the fourth
cycle (Table 3). This shows that less-developed soils with
higher proportion of mica and 2:1 silicate clays, especially
the most clayey ones, are the soils with the highest capacity to
supply K to plants in medium and long term. Data of Santos
et al. (2013) indicate that these soils show higher K buffering
capacity (KBC), which favors the maintenance of K more or
less constant in the soil solution for long periods. In addition,
the silt fraction in the soil can also be a great source of nonexchangeable K (Silva et al., 2008).
K fertilization increased plant K contents during the
first cycle, especially in more-developed soils and in the
less-developed ones with higher sand contents (RR and RL).

However, this effect only reflected in a considerable increase
of corn dry matter production in the soils PA, PAC and RR
(Table 3), which are the ones with the highest sand contents
and the lowest Ke contents (Table 1). This beneficial effect of
the K dose on plant growth was virtually limited to the first
cycle (Table 3), evidencing the need to replenish the K exported
by the harvests after each cycle in these soils. Soils with low
KBC, such as PA, PAC, RR and RL, require split and frequent
K fertilizations to maintain soil fertility (Santos et al., 2013).
The dry matter production of plants cultivated in moredeveloped soils did not correlate (second, third and fourth
cycles) or showed low correlation (first cycle) with Ks contents
(Table 4), but showed good correlation with Kne contents and
especially with Ke contents.
In the more-developed soils, the correlation between Kne
content and dry matter production was low in the first cycle,
but it was high in the subsequent ones, possibly due to the
contribution of Kne to plant nutrition and growth, which is
directly proportional to the depletion of soil Ke. Therefore,
the non-exchangeable K constituted a reserve of K supplied
to plants, thus guaranteeing their nutrition especially in
more-developed soils, as observed by Alves et al. (2013) and
Rosolem et al. (2012). Similar behavior was observed in the
absorbed K. It should be pointed out that the contribution of
soluble K, from the second cycle on, was not significant in
more-developed soils, but was significant until the third cycle
in the less-developed ones.
The amounts of Kne and Ke released and absorbed by corn
plants after four successive cycles are shown in Table 5. In

Table 4. Coefficients of single linear correlation between
the variables non-exchangeable K content (Kne),
exchangeable K content (Ke) soluble K content (Ks), dry
matter and absorbed K content
13
Table 5. Amounts of non-exchangeable K (Kne) and

exchangeable K (Ke) released and K absorbed by corn
plants after four successive cycles, as a function of K doses
added to more- and less-developed soils of the state of
Paraba, Brazil
MDS - More-developed soils (n = 12 for each cycle individually and n = 48 for all the
cycles); (2)LDS - Less-developed soils (n = 12 for each cycle individually and n = 48 for
all the cycles); (3)ALL - All the soils (n = 24 for each cycle individually and n = 96 for all
the cycles); *,**Significant at 0.05 and 0.01 probability level, respectively; nsNot significant
(1)
more-developed soils with higher clay contents (PVe, PVA, LA

and PVd), the amounts of Ke released after four successive corn
cycles were similar to the amounts of K absorbed by plants in
the absence of K fertilization, while in more-developed soils
with lower clay contents (PA and PAC) this only occurred
after the application of the K dose of 100 mg dm-3 (Table 5).
In the soils PA and PAC, in the absence of K fertilization, the
amount of Kne + Ke released after the cycles was lower than
the K absorbed by plants, indicating that other forms of Kne,
not extracted with boiling 1 mol L-1 HNO3, may have been
released and absorbed by plants.
When K was not added to less-developed soils, the released
Ke represented 20 (RY) to 74% (TX) of the K absorbed by
plants. These values vary from 21 (SX) to 84% (RR) when a K
dose of 100 mg dm-3 was added (Table 5). The less-developed
soils with higher clay contents and predominance of mica
and 2:1 minerals in the clay fraction (SX, RY and VX) (Table
1) were the soils in which the released Ke represented only a
small fraction of the amount of K absorbed by plants (Table 5).
In the soil SX, the released amounts of Kne + Ke were
higher than the amounts of K absorbed by plants, especially
for the K dose of 100 mg dm-3 (Table 5), evidencing that the
non-exchangeable forms of K released and absorbed by plants
were efficiently estimated by boiling 1 mol L-1 HNO3. The same
did not occur in the soils RY and VX, in which the released
Ke represented only 20 to 40% of the great amount (589 to
801 mg dm-3, respectively) of K absorbed by plants in these
soils (Table 5).
According to Meurer et al. (1996), the K extractable
with boiling 1 mol L -1 HNO 3, which is considered as a
reserve available in the medium term, can be an unreliable
approximation of the soil capacity for K supply, but it is not
PA - Yellow Argisol; PAC - Gray Argisol; PVe - Eutrophic Red Argisol; PVA - Red Yellow
Argisol; LA - Yellow Latosol; PVd - Dystrophic Red Argisol; RR - Regolithic Neosol; RL Litholic Neosol; TX - Haplic Luvisol; SX - Haplic Planosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol; VX - Haplic
Vertisol. (2)Values in parentheses are percentages calculated in relation to the absorbed K; (3)
Final values of non-exchangeable K were higher than the initial value
(1)
necessarily related to the dynamics of K release in the soils.

Furthermore, it should be considered the potential capacity of
the acid treatment in the dissolution of structural K, similar to
other strong acids, which can lead to an overestimation in the
quantification of Kne contents in the soil. The methodology
employed in the present study uses a time of 15 minutes for
soil boiling with 1 mol L-1 HNO3, which is longer than the time
used in most studies found (10 minutes).
In less-developed soils originated from granite, Nachtigall
& Vahl (1991) observed high contents of K extracted by boiling
1 mol L-1 HNO3, which was not released to plants. Similar
results were observed by Mielniczuk & Selbach (1978) in soils
of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In other cases, boiling 1 mol
L-1 HNO3 can underestimate Kne, indicating a participation of
non-exchangeable forms used by plants that are not extracted
through this methodology (Nachtigall & Vahl, 1991; Silva et
al., 2000; Cabbau et al., 2004; Villa et al., 2004). These results,
as the ones observed in the present study, compromise the
generalization of the use of boiling 1 mol L-1 HNO3 as an index
of Kne supply to plants.
With the data from Table 5, multiple and single linear
regression equations were adjusted to the accumulated K in
the plants as a variable of Kne and/or Ke (Table 6). In moredeveloped soils, variations in the K absorbed by plants are very
well explained (R2 = 0.99) by the variations in the Ke released,
14
but little explained (R2 = 0.43) by the variations in the Kne

contents released. According to the multiple regression model,
the variable Kne did not contribute to the increase in R2 and the
coefficient of the model associated with this variable was not
significant. Thus, it can be concluded that, in more-developed
soils, the variations in the amounts of K absorbed by plants
are exclusively explained by the variations in the amounts of
Ke released after the cycles.
In less-developed soils, variations in the K absorbed by plants
were partially explained (R2 = 0.61) by the variations in the Ke
released, but were not explained (R2 = 0.13 and not significant
effect for Kne) by the variations in the contents of Kne released
(Table 6). Considering the variables Kne and Ke together in the
multiple regression model, the value of R2 increased to 0.72.
This R2 value is still lower than 0.99, evidencing once more that
in less-developed soils, not all the non-exchangeable forms of
K susceptible to absorption by plants were extracted from the
soil with boiling 1 mol L-1 HNO3, as previously mentioned.
When these regression equations were adjusted considering
the twelve soils together, the R2 values were much lower (Table
6), evidencing that the separation of the soils into two groups
according to the degree of development was important to better
understand the studied phenomenon.
Table 6. Multiple and single linear regression equations
for the estimation of K absorbed by corn plants along
four successive cycles (Y, in mg dm -3) as a function
of the contents (mg dm-3) of exchangeable K (Ke) and
non-exchangeable K (Kne) released, in more- and lessdeveloped soils of the state of Paraba, Brazil
*,**, and oSignificant at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10 probability level, respectively; nsNot significant
Conclusions
1. In all the studied soils, especially in the less-developed
ones with higher contents of clay and 2:1 minerals, the
amounts of K absorbed after successive cycles were higher
than the released contents of exchangeable K, evidencing the
contribution of non-exchangeable K forms to corn nutrition.
2. The extractor 1 mol L-1 HNO3 in boiling water was not
efficient to extract all the non-exchangeable K forms susceptible
to absorption by corn plants.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.1621, 2016

Soybean nutritional status and seed physiological quality

with swine wastewater
Olga M. Passarin1, Silvio C. Sampaio1, Danielle M. Rosa1, Ralpho R. dos Reis1 & Marcus M. Correa2
1
Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paran/Grupo de Pesquisa em Cincias Agro-Ambientais. Cascavel, PR. E-mail: olgamarluci@gmail.com;
silvio.sampaio@unioeste.br (Corresponding author); danielle.biol@gmail.com; ralpho.reis@unioeste.br; metri@dtr.ufrpe.br
Key words:
mineral fertilization
swine waste
water reuse
ABSTRACT
Swine wastewater application is a practice that can become viable in agriculture, for
minimizing fertilization costs and improving soil conditions. Therefore, it is essential
to establish criteria that define appropriate application doses from the agronomic and
environmental perspectives. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of swine
wastewater doses associated with mineral fertilization on soybean nutritional status and
physiological quality of seed. The experiment was conducted in the agricultural year of
2010/2011, using twenty-four drainage lysimeters in randomized block design in 4 x 2
factorial scheme, with four swine wastewater doses (0, 100, 200 and 300 m3ha-1) applied
before sowing, associated with presence and absence of mineral fertilization, in three
replicates. Leaves at the flowering stage were collected for determinations of N, P, K+, Ca+2,
Mg+2, Cu+2, Zn+2, Mn and Fe. Symptoms of toxicity andnutritional deficiency were observed
in the crop. Furthermore, higher doses of swine wastewater caused lower physiological
quality in soybean seeds.
Palavras-chave:
fertilizao mineral
dejeto suno
reso de gua
Estado nutricional e qualidade fisiolgica de sementes

de soja com gua residuria da suinocultura
RESUMO
A disposio de gua residuria da suinocultura uma prtica que se pode tornar vivel
agricultura, por minimizar custos com fertilizao e melhorar as condies do solo.
Para tanto, fundamental o estabelecimento de critrios que definam doses de aplicao
adequadas do ponto de vista agronmico e ambiental. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi
avaliar o efeito de doses de gua residuria de suinocultura associada adubao mineral no
estado nutricional da planta e na qualidade fisiolgica da semente da soja. O experimento,
conduzido no ano agrcola 2010/2011, foi realizado em 24 lismetros de drenagem, em
delineamento em blocos casualizados em esquema fatorial 4 x 2, sendo quatro doses de
gua residuria da suinocultura, 0, 100, 200 e 300 m3 ha-1 aplicadas antes da semeadura,
combinadas com a presena e ausncia de adubao mineral em trs repeties. Folhas
em estdio de florescimento foram coletadas para a determinao de N, P, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2,
Cu+2, Zn+2, Mn e Fe. Sintomas de toxicidade e deficincias nutricionais na cultura foram
detectados. Alm disto, o aumento da dose de gua residuria da suinocultura propiciou
menor qualidade fisiolgica nas sementes de soja.
Soybean nutritional status and seed physiological quality with swine wastewater
Introduction
Residues from swine (Caovilla et al., 2010; Sampaio et al.,
2010) and cattle (Ayuke et al., 2011) farming, for being rich in
nutrients, can be used as biofertilizers in agriculture. In liquid
form, these residues are more efficient when disposed on soil
surface, supplying plants with water and nutrients (Caovilla
et al., 2010; Sampaio et al., 2010). On the other hand, these
residues in liquid form require more-detailed studies on their
destination in the soil, because they can cause diffuse pollution,
which is difficult to detect and control.
Studies show that the main negative effects caused by
the use of liquid residues in agriculture are related to water
contamination by nitrogen and phosphorus (Smanhotto et
al., 2010) and accumulation of heavy metals on soil surface
(Bosco et al., 2008b; Lucas et al., 2013). The positive effects are
related to the increase in organic matter and nutrients in the
soil (Assmann et al., 2007; Bosco et al., 2008a).
Additionally, there is a concern about the indiscriminate
use of antimicrobial agents, which can lead to the genetic
resistance of soil microorganisms when present in the wastes
(Munir et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2013). Thus, in order to search
for positive and negative effects of the use of effluents in
agriculture, research studies have focused on soil (Sampaio
et al., 2010), leachate (Prior et al., 2009; Maggi et al., 2011),
runoff (Bosco et al., 2008b; Doblinski et al., 2010; Wang et al.,
2013) and on agricultural crops (Kessler et al., 2013a; 2013b).
In addition to these topics, some studies also concentrate on
the soil biota (Tessaro et al., 2013; Brooks et al., 2014).
Researches on the use of wastewater in the initial
development stage of crops are still incipient; however,
the study of Pelissari et al. (2009) allows observing a great
potential in the development of viable techniques on this
line. These authors observed that the time for the production
of Eucalyptus seedlings in plant nurseries decreased by 67%
when the imported mineral fertilizer was substituted by swine
17
wastewater. As to the nutritional status of soybean plants, in

the study of Kessler et al. (2013a) there was no difference in the
contents of Cu+2, Fe+2, Mn+2, Ca+2 and P; on the other hand, the
contents of K+, Mg+2, pH, N, B and Zn+2 were changed by the
management with swine wastewater and mineral fertilization.
The great potential of use of wastewater in agricultural
areas refers to grasses and forests, due to the high nutrient
cycling power, especially of nitrogen. On the other hand,
leguminous plants, such as soybean, are always associated with
the production of grasses on a farm, due to crop rotation, as
in the Western region of Paran, Brazil, where agricultural
cycles composed of soybean-corn-black oat with intensed
applications of swine wastewater are common. In the global
context in swine-producing regions, where grain production
is also concentrated, the effects of the application of organic
biofertilizers (Carvalho et al., 2001), tannery sludge (Costa
et al., 2001), biosolids (Currie et al., 2003) and sewage sludge
(Vieira et al., 2005) on soybean plants started to be studied.
Based on the above and aiming to contribute to the state of
the art on the subject, this study aimed to evaluate the effects
of 4 years of swine wastewater application on the nutritional
status of soybean and on the physiological quality of its seeds.

The experiment was carried out in the agricultural year of
2010/2011. The experimental area is located at the geographical
coordinates of 24 54' 02" S and 53 32' 00" W, in CascavelPR, Brazil, at a mean altitude of 680 m. The climate is very
humid, mesothermal subtropical, with mean annual rainfall
of 1800 mm, mean temperature of 20 C and mean relative
air humidity of 75%. The means of rainfall and temperature
during the experiment are shown in Figure 1. The soil in the
area is classified as distroferric Red Latosol.
The experimental area consisted of 24 plots, each one with
area of 1.60 m2. This area has a history of experiments that have
Figure 1. Monthly total rainfall and mean temperature recorded during the experiment
18
Olga M. Passarin et al.
virtually repeated the same agricultural management, only

changing the crops. The regional pattern of crop rotation cornblack oat-soybean has been used since the first experiment in
2006, with cultivation of corn (Zea mays L.) (1) and soybean
(Glycine max (L.) Merrill) (2); in 2007, black oat (Avena
strigosa Schreb.) (3) and soybean (4); in 2008, black oat
(5) and baby corn (6); in 2009, corn (7), black oat (8) and
soybean (9); and in 2010, corn (10) and black oat (11). This
study focused on soybean cultivation (12 experiment).
The treatments aimed to study the absence (A) and presence
(P) of mineral fertilization (MF) combined with 4 doses of
swine wastewater (SW): 0, 100, 200 and 300 m3 ha1, totaling 8
treatments: (T1) 0 SW-A, environmental control; (T2) 0 SW-P,
agronomic control; (T3) 100 SW-A; (T4) 100 SW-P; (T5) 200
SW-A; (T6) 200 SW-P; (T7) 300 SW-A; (T8) 300 SW-P. The
presence of MF represented conventional chemical fertilization
recommended for the crop.
The swine wastewater was collected in the outlet of the
biodigester of a piglet-producing unit and its chemical
characteristics are shown in Table 1. Before sowing each crop,
SW was applied in the experimental units according to the
treatments. The soybean cultivar CD 208 (COODETEC),
which has a semi-early cycle of 131 days, was planted using
a density of 20 seeds per linear meter and spacing of 45 cm
between rows. At sowing, 250 kg ha-1 of NPK formulation
(0:20:20) were applied.
Following the methodology described by EMBRAPA
(1999), leaves with petioles were collected for diagnosis,
corresponding to the 3 and 4 trifoliate leaves from the main
stem, in the initial flowering period. These leaves were washed,
dried and prepared for the determination of nitrogen (N),
phosphorus (P), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca+2), magnesium
(Mg+2), copper (Cu+2), zinc (Zn+2), iron (Fe+2) and manganese
(Mn), according to the methodology of Tedesco et al. (1995).
From the obtained contents, the nutritional interpretation
suggested by EMBRAPA (1999) was performed, according
Table 2.
Table 1. Physico-chemical characterization of the swine
wastewater
EC - Electrical conductivity; TC - Total carbon; TN - Total nitrogen; TOC - Total organic carbon;
TIC - Total inorganic carbon; P - Phosphorus; K+ - Potassium, Na+ - Sodium, Ca+2 - Calcium;
Mg+2 - Magnesium; Cu+2 - Copper; Zn+2 - Zinc; TS - Total solids; FTS - Fixed total solids;
VTS - Volatile total solids
Table 2. Levels of interpretation of nutrients in soybean

leaves, according to EMBRAPA (1999)
The germination test was performed according to the Rules

for Seed Analysis (Brasil, 2009). The seeds were germinated on
germitest paper, moistened with distilled water; immediately
after, the seeds were placed in a BOD device at 25 C for
seven days and the results were expressed in percentages of
germinated, abnormal and dead seeds.
The experimental design was a 4 x 2 factorial scheme with
four levels of SW and two of MF, with three replicates. Before
the analysis of variance, a descriptive data analysis and an error
normality test were performed. For the parameters that did not
show normal distribution of errors, data transformation was
performed. Tukey test at 0.05 probability level was used for
the comparison of means. Regression analysis was performed
for the variables germinated, abnormal and dead seeds, as a
function of the application of SW doses. The statistical program
Minitab 17 was used for the analysis.

There were no significant differences in the leaf contents
of N, P, Mn and Cu+2 between the treatments (Table 3). Swine
wastewater (SW) and mineral fertilization (MF) promoted
significant differences in the contents of K+, Ca+2 and Mg+2.
The content of K+ increased proportionally to the applied SW
doses, which can be explained by the fact that this element is
relatively mobile in the water-soil-plant system, contributing
and facilitating its transfer to plants (Bertol et al., 2010).
The behavior observed for Ca+2 and Mg+2 was contrary to
that for K+, i.e., its contents decreased with the increase in SW,
indicating that these elements were retained in the soil matrix.
The data of SW composition (Table 1) show that contents of
Ca+2 and Mg+2 are higher as compared to K+. Since the CEC
in Latosols is naturally high (in this experiment: 110-130
mmolc dm-3), it leads to higher fixation of bivalent elements
such as Ca+2 and Mg+2, while K+ remains in the soil solution,
available for absorption by plants.
In the diagnosed contents, the lowest P values were
observed in the treatments with doses of 0 and 300 m3 ha-1.
It is pertinent to point out that, for Zn+2, the highest content
was obtained in the treatments fertigated with the dose of 300
m3 ha-1. According to Malavolta et al. (1997), the excess of
Zn+2 reduces the absorption of P. Thus, Zn+2 possibly induced
the antagonistic action on P, decreasing its availability, which
was already low due to the small amount applied via SW. This
nutritional deficit led to a metabolic disfunction in the seed,
which did not have energy to break down reserve-substances
19
Table 3. Analysis of variance (p-value) and means comparison test for the nutrients in soybean plants
*** Means followed by equal lowercase letters in the column do not differ by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level for the follow-up analysis of SW inside MF and equal uppercase letters in the
column do not differ by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level for the follow-up analysis of MF inside SW; ** Means followed by same lowercase letters in the column do not differ by Tukey test
at 0.05 probability level for SW and means followed by same uppercase letters in the column do not differ by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level for MF; A - Absence of MF; P - Presence of
MF; *Significant at 0.05; CV - Coefficient of variation; NS - Not significant
and nourish the embryonic axis, hampering the germination

process. Other studies also cite the importance of appropriate
P contents for germination, seed emergence and adequate
soybean yields (Guerra et al., 2006). On the other hand,
high contents of Ca+2 and Mg+2 can induce the formation of
their phosphates (Novais et al., 2007), contributing to the
immobilization of P.
For the macronutrients P and K+, not all the treatments
supplied plants adequately (Table 2). 33% of P values and
16.66% of K values are below the contents considered as
adequate. Plants in the treatment T1 and T7 showed P contents
below the adequate range. This was expected, since P is an
element of little mobility in the soil, which is the reason for its
accumulation in the superficial layer, restricting its availability
to plants (Scherer, 2007). It is known that P is a nutrient
required in large amounts by plants and it is responsible for
storage and permutation of genetic information, with function
of energy transfer as a carrier and activator of amino acids
(Malavolta et al., 1997). For K+, this deficiency was observed
in the treatment of environmental control, with values around
14 g kg-1.
Part of Zn+2 values were above the ones established by
EMBRAPA (1999). In all treatments, the level of Cu+2 was
considered as low, possibly because it is strongly adsorbed to
soil organic and inorganic colloids. In the process of active
absorption, there is a competition between Cu+2 and Zn+2 for
the sites of the carrier (Malavolta et al., 1997), which explains
its low content in the analyzed plant tissue; however, despite
being low, it did not affect nodulation, which was observed at
the field. The values of Zn+2 varied from sufficient to high and,
although the increase in its availability does not constitute an
immediate problem, it can lead to plant nutritional imbalances
in the long term.
The other elements are within the range considered as
sufficient for the soybean crop.
The regression curves of germination percentage as
a function of the SW doses for the seeds obtained in the
treatments with MF + SW (T4, T6 and T8) and only with
SW (T3, T5 and T7) showed determination coefficients (R2)
of 0.953 and 0.999, respectively (Figure 2). The treatments
that combined MF with SW showed an increasing quadratic
response, while the germination of seeds treated with SW
Figure 2. Germination of soybean seeds as a function of

the application of swine wastewater (SW) and mineral
fertilization + swine wastewater (MF + SW)
showed a decreasing quadratic response. The highest SW doses
in the absence of MF changed the physiological potential of
the seeds and reduced germination percentage, a sign that
the isolated use of this animal residue does not supply plant
nutritional requirements in a balanced way, which can lead to
negative effects in the production process.
In the comparison between the percentages of germinated,
abnormal and dead seeds (Figure 3A), seed germination was
equal to 86% for the dose of 100 m3 ha-1. As the dose increased
to 200 m3 ha-1, the germination percentage decreased by 10%.
In the treatment with dose of 300 m3 ha-1, the germination
remained at 22%.
The presence of MF was expressive for the treatments in
combination with SW (T4, T6 and T8), since it promoted
adequate germination percentage (Figure 3B). The presence of
readily available macronutrients in the MF, combined with the
increment of micronutrients present in the SW, led to optimal
mineral conditions for the formation of grains.
The results indicate that the treatment with SW + MF dose
of 300 m3 ha-1 promoted balanced fertilization during plant
vegetative stage, which allowed the accumulation of reserves
that were later translocated to the seeds during the formation
of the embryo and storage organs (Carvalho & Nakagawa,
2000). In general, fertilization recommendations are correlated
only with crop yield and not with physiological quality of seed
(Maeda et al., 1986).
20
Olga M. Passarin et al.
Percentage
A.
SW (m3 ha-1)
Percentage
B.
MF + SW (m3 ha-1)
Figure 3. Physiological quality (Germinated, Abnormal

and Dead) of soybean seeds produced in the presence
of swine wastewater (SW) (A) and mineral fertilization +
swine wastewater (MF+SW) (B)
The use of SW as the only nutritional source is not
recommended for the fertilization of soils for soybean
cultivation intended for seed production.
Conclusions
1. As to soybean nutritional status, the association of swine
wastewater and mineral fertilization is adequate, except with
respect to Cu.
2. The application of swine wastewater is not recommended
as a total substitute of mineral fertilizers, especially for crop
intended for seed production.
3. The association of two nutritional sources, mineral
fertilizer and swine wastewater, from 200 m3 ha-1 on, promotes
the production of seeds with adequate physiological quality.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.2228, 2016

Proline and trehalose in maize seeds germinating

under low osmotic potentials
Rafaela J. B. Queiroz1 & Jairo O. Cazetta1
1
Universidade Estadual Paulista/ Faculdade de Cincias Agrrias e Veterinrias. Jaboticabal, SP. E-mail: queiroz_rafaela@hotmail.com; cazetta@fcav.unesp.br
Key words:
Zea mays
germination
water restriction
osmoregulation
compatible solutes
ABSTRACT
Although it is relatively well known that adult plants tend to accumulate proline and trehalose
in their tissues as a physiological mechanism in response to drought, there is scarce information
about the development of this physiological response in seeds. Thus, the objective of this
research was to verify if maize seeds are able to develop mechanism of osmoprotection, when
are germinating under low osmotic potential, and the possibility to use the levels of trehalose
and proline in a defined seed part, aiming to differentiate genotypes regarding drought
tolerance. The experiment was performed as a factorial arrangement of 2 x 5 (2 hybrids x 5
osmotic potential) within a completely randomized design, with four replicates. It was found
that the proline content in the embryo axis of maize seeds germinating under water limitation
is directly proportional to the intensity of this stress. Distinct hybrids show different proline
levels accumulated in the embryo axis, when seeds are germinating under the same conditions
of water limitation. The trehalose content tends to decrease in the embryo axis and in the
endosperm of maize seeds germinating under increasing water limitation, but the reduction
is not directly proportional to osmotic potential.
Palavras-chave:
Zea mays
germinao
restrio hdrica
osmoregulao
solutos compatveis
Prolina e trealose em sementes de milho germinando

em baixos potenciais osmticos
RESUMO
Embora seja relativamente bem conhecido que as plantas adultas tendem a acumular prolina
e trealose como mecanismo fisiolgico em resposta seca, h pouca informao sobre o
desenvolvimento desta resposta em sementes. Assim, esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar se
sementes de milho so capazes de desenvolver mecanismos de osmoproteo quando postas
para germinar em condies de baixos potenciais osmticos, bem como a possibilidade
de usar os nveis de trealose e prolina como indicadores bioqumicos para diferenciar
gentipos quanto tolerncia seca. O experimento constou de um esquema fatorial de
2 x 5 (2 hbridos x 5 potenciais osmticos) conduzido em um delineamento inteiramente
casualizado com quatro repeties. Observou-se que o teor de prolina no eixo do embrio de
sementes de milho postas para germinar sob limitao hdrica, diretamente proporcional
intensidade do estresse. Hbridos distintos mostram diferentes nveis de prolina no eixo
embrionrio quando as sementes germinam nas mesmas condies de limitao hdrica. O
teor de trealose diminui, tanto no eixo embrionrio como no endosperma de sementes de
milho postas para germinar sob crescente limitao hdrica mas a reduo no diretamente
proporcional intensidade do estresse.
Proline and trehalose in maize seeds germinating under low osmotic potentials
Introduction
The understanding on drought tolerance in crop plants
is a matter of great relevance, once water limitation is one of
the greatest constraints for agriculture (Rodriguez-Salazar et
al., 2009; Xoconostle-Czarez et al., 2010). Maize is one of the
most important commodities produced worldwide (FAO, 2014)
and drought has a strong limiting effect on seed germination,
on plant development and on the yield of this crop. Thus,
knowledge on mechanisms that enable maize cope with
drought has a fundamental importance, especially considering
that this crop provides significant part of human food across
the world, which is under risk in a scenery of growing global
warming. Although there are many studies regarding the
strategies of plant drought tolerance, most part have focused
mainly on parameters measured in the green tissues of plant
shoots (Abo-El-Kheir & Mekki, 2007; Lopes et al., 2011). While
there is no doubt that seed performance reflects on later plant
development (Mondo et al., 2013), reports on the development
of protective mechanism in seeds are still scarce in the literature
(Thakur & Sharma, 2005; Mohammadkhani & Heidari, 2008;
poljarevi et al., 2011).
Based on studies with adult or young plants, it was stated that
generally the response to water limitation is the development
of an osmoprotection mechanism. This mechanism is initiated
by an osmotic adjustment to keep plant metabolism running,
at least at a minimum rate, and for a relatively short period of
time under drought (Mohammadkhani & Heidari, 2008). This
phenomenon comprises the synthesis of certain compatible
solutes that may have a prime role on the protection of key
proteins, on stabilizing cell membranes, and on the control
of instable chemicals species (Mohammadkhani & Heidari,
2008, Xoconostle-Czarez et al., 2010). In this case, those
compatible solutes are often designated as osmoprotectors.
Proline and trehalose are some of the main compatible
solutes largely studied in the evaluation of plants to detect
tolerance to drought, and often used as plant breeding tool to
segregate sensible and tolerant genotypes (Trovato et al., 2008;
Anami et al., 2009). Although trehalose has been considered
as osmoprotector, lately some authors have reported that it
should not be regarded only as a protective sugar, and that
further investigation is required to elucidate its exact role in
the stress tolerance in plants (Paul et al., 2008; Fernandez et
al., 2010). It is also advocated that trehalose and proline are
used as energy sources, and that proline may be metabolized
as nitrogen source readily available for plant re-establishment
just after the period of water limitation (Kavi Kishor et al.,
2005; Trovato et al., 2008).
Although the seed is a plant part, it is different from other
green plant organs, frequently studied in research about the
development of osmoptotection mechanism. During their
formation, the seeds are typically importer of photoassimilates,
while green plant tissues are characteristically producers and
exporters of those compounds (Ludewig & Flgge, 2013).
However, during the germination process, the seeds, at the
same time have some tissues working as a non-photossynthetic
source (e.g. endosperm) and others as sink (e.g. embryo axis)
of photoassimilates. Thus, our hypothesis is that when seeds
are germinating they may have a distinct behavior compared
23
to that of largely studied green tissues, regarding the capacity

to develop osmoprotection mechanism. Moreover, it is possible
that distinct seed tissues have different behaviors on this
physiological response. This hypothesis is supported by the
knowledge that the response and tolerance of crop plants to
abiotic stress are quantitative traits controlled by many different
genes (Lopes et al., 2011). This fact reinforces the idea that
different organs, or even different tissues of a same plant organ,
may have distinct behavior regarding the degree of response to
water stress (Abo-El-Kheir & Mekki, 2007; Mohammadkhani
& Heidari, 2008; Anami et al., 2009, Tardieu, 2012). Therefore,
specific study to better understand this phenomenon in the
seed are matter of great interest.
Under natural conditions, several factors affect seed
germination simultaneously. Thus, it is very difficult to insulate
the effect of a single factor (e.g. water deficit) to be studied
under these conditions. As a way to circumvent this problem,
water-stress conditions may be simulated in laboratory by using
solutions with different osmotic potentials, which are usually
obtained by adding distinct concentrations of polyethylene
glycol (PEG) in the germination medium. PEG is often used
for this purpose because it is chemically inert, non-toxic to
the seeds, and works as an strong osmotic agent (Villela et al.,
1991; Queiroz et al., 2000; Meneses et al., 2011).
Considering the aforementioned, this research was
idealized with the objective to evaluate if maize seeds are
able to accumulate proline and trehalose as mechanism of
osmoprotection, when germinating under low osmotic potential.
Also, to check the possibility to use the levels of trehalose and/
or proline in a defined seed part, as a biochemical indicator to
differentiate genotypes regarding drought tolerance.

Treatments included seeds of 2 maize genotypes subjected
to 5 levels of osmotic potential, composing 10 treatments, with
4 replicates. The assays were carried out with maize seeds
of similar size, belonging to the single-cross hybrids: DKB390 (Dekalb), and DAS-2B710 (Dow AgroScience). Before
the assays, the seeds were treated with nistatine solution
(1%) in order to guarantee their sanity during the tests.
Each experimental unit was constituted of two plastic boxes
(gerbox), of size 11.0 x 11.0 x 3.5 cm, containing 50 seeds (25
seeds each box) deposited on a sterile germitest paper sheet.
The distinct osmotic potential treatments were imposed by
soaking the paper sheet with: Sterile distilled water (control,
corresponding to potential 0.0 MPa) or solutions with
different PEG 6000 concentrations to obtain the osmotic
potentials corresponding to: -0.3; -0.6; -0.9; and -1.2 MPa,
following indications of Villela et al. (1991). All experimental
units were randomly distributed in a germination chamber
adjusted to temperature of 30 2 C, atmosphere with 60
2% relative humidity, and photoperiod of 12 h, as indicated
by Brasil (2009). Every 03 days, the seeds were transferred
to new boxes containing the respective fresh treatments in
order to mantain the desired osmotic potential constant.
Germination evaluations were performed daily until 10 days
after imposition of treatments, considering as germinated
24
Rafaela J. B. Queiroz & Jairo O. Cazetta
seeds those with primary root protrusion at least 2 mm long.

These data were used to determine the germination index
(GI) and the germination speed index (GSI), as proposed by
Maguire (1962). The average germination time (ATG) was
obtained according to that described by Edmond & Drapala
(1958). Dry mass allocation (DM) among seed tissues was
determined after 10 days of imposition of treatments. For
this determination, the embryo axis and the endosperm were
excised. The aerial part (when present) and the roots were cut
off quite close to the surface of the seed coat. All these tissues
were dried (by lyophylization) constant weight, and the dry
mass was measured using an analytical scale. After that, the
samples were ground in the presence of liquid nitrogen, before
biochemical analysis. The proline content in the endosperm
(EN) and embryo axis (EA) was determined according to
the method proposed by Bates et al. (1973). The trehalose
content was determined with the enzymatic method described
by Neves et al. (1994), except that the trehalase used in this
assay was obtained from the fungus Rhizopus microsporus,
following indications of Queiroz et al. (2008). The statistical
analysis of the data was performed in a factorial arrangement
of 2 x 5 (2 hybrids x 5 osmotic potentials) within a completely
randomized design, with four replicates. Data significance
was assessed by analysis of variance (F test). Polynomial
regression analysis was performed to better evaluate the
quantitative effect of osmotic potential, and to study the
interaction hybrid x osmotic potential (when significant
(p < 0.05)). Figures were made by choosing the polynomial
equation with the highest coefficient of determination (R2),
and highest F test significance (Barbosa & Maldonado Jnior,
2010). Also, Pearsons correlation was performed among
studied variables.
The restriction on water availability induced a reduction of

about 47% for DKB-390 hybrid (DKB) and 52% for DAS-2B710
(DAS) in the germination index (GI) of seeds, considering data
obtained at the lowest osmotic potential (-1.2 MPa, Figure 1A).
A.
B.
C.

In studies on the effects induced by a given stress, it
is necessary initially to ensure that the stress was actually
imposed at desired levels. With this concern, physiological
measurements were carried out, and data showed that the
imposed osmotic potentials were effective (p < 0.01) to induce
changes on the measured variables, except for embryo axis dry
matter (Table 1).
Except for GSI, ATG and proline in the endosperm, the
osmotic potential had effect independent from the genotypes
(p > 0.05). In the case of embryo axis dry matter, the interaction
between hybrid and osmotic potential showed a low significant
effect (p < 0.05), although no significant effect (p > 0.05) was
observed for hybrids or osmotic potentials, independently
(Table 1).
Figure 1. Germination Index (A), germination speed index

(B), and average time for germination (C), for maize seeds of
the genotypes DKB-390 and DAS-2B710, after germinating
for 10 days under varying osmotic potential
Table 1. Analysis of variance (F test) for germination index (GI), germination speed index (GSI), average time for
germination (ATG), and dry matter of shoot, root, endosperm and embryo axis
** and * - Significant at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 level of probability, respectively; ns - Not significant; CV - Coefficient of variation
The germination speed index (GSI) was reduced
proportionally to water limitation (Figure 1B), while the
mean germination time (AGT) showed an inverse behavior
for both genotypes (Figure 1C). These results indicate that
water stress harmed germination, so seeds demanded more
time to germinate. The GSI of the DKB hybrid, at the highest
and the lowest studied osmotic potentials, were 10.43 and
2.15 germinated seeds per day, respectively (Figure 1B). These
values were higher than 8.47 and 1.63 germinated seeds per day
of the DAS hybrid, at the respective same potentials.
The seeds of DAS hybrid tended to show higher ATG and
lower GSI compared to DKB (Figures 1B and 1C). These data
showed that GI, GSI and ATG are suitable to describe the
process of germination under adverse conditions. However, due
to the significant effects of the interaction between genotypes
and the osmotic potential (Table 1, and Figures 1B and 1C),
the use of GSI and ATG as tools to distinguish the response of
the hybrids to water limitations seems to be unsure. Besides
reducing seed germination (Figure 1B), low water availability
was detrimental to the seedlings growth (Table 1, Figure 2C
and 2D).
The detrimental effect of water limitation on seedlings
growth has been also observed by Mohammadkhani &
Heidari (2008), and it was expected, shoot and root as because
depend on the endosperm as source of energy, besides
metabolites, until the plantlet achieves autonomy for its own
support (Aoki et al., 2006).
With the decrease in water availability (from 0 to -1.2 MPa)
the seeds tended to show more dry mass kept in the endosperm
(Figure 2A), and the shoot and the roots tended to decrease
growth (Figures 2C and 2D). The hybrid DKB kept more
endosperm dry mass, and less shoot growth in comparison to
DAS (Figs. 2A and 2C). For the DKB, the embryo axis dry mass
remained constant with increasing stress, while this variable
tended to increase in DAS (Figure 2B).
The accumulation of proline in seed tissues was
proportionally increased by increasing the water limitation
(Figure 3A). Nevertheless, most part of the total proline of
the seed was found in the embryo axis. This is an indication
that this tissue is much more sensitive than endosperm to the
accumulation of proline, and this trend was observed in both
studied hybrids (Figure 3A).
The accumulation of proline in the tissues by reducing
osmotic potential is an evidence that maize seeds are also able
to develop osmoprotection mechanism, as frequently occurs in
adult plants. The higher proline accumulation in the embryo
axis, compared to that of endosperm, seems to be related to
the greater metabolic activity and substantial presence of
soluble carbohydrates in the embryo axis. This statement is
based on the observations of Mohammadkhani & Heidari
(2008), in which the accumulation of proline is relatively
dependent on the levels of soluble carbohydrates in the
tissues, since sucrose has a positive effect on the accumulation
of this osmoprotectant. Although the endosperm of maize
seeds is a storage organ, rich in carbohydrates, it is composed
mainly of starch and other insoluble carbohydrates. Also, the
endosperm is a tissue highly dependent on the embryo to
promote the mobilization of its storage compounds, during
25
A.
B.
C.
D.
Figure 2. Dry mass kept in the endosperm (A), and dry

mass of the embryo axis (B), shoot (C) and root (D), from
seeds of two maize hybrids (DKB-390 and DAS-2B710)
after 10 days germinating under varying osmotic potential
26

A.
B.
Figure 3. Levels of proline (A), and trehalose (B), in the dry

matter of endosperm (EN) and embryo axis (EA) of seeds
from the maize hybrids DKB-390 and DAS-2B710, after 10
days germinating under varying osmotic potential
germination. Because of that, the endosperm normally has a
lower metabolism activity compared to that of embryo axis,
and it seems that its metabolic activity is even more reduced
under drought (Snchez-Linares et al., 2012). These facts
are, probably, what may justify the low proline synthesis and
accumulation in the endosperm tissue, in seeds germinating
under water limitations. Considering that proline accumulated
much more in the embryo axis than in the endosperm, also
that this accumulation was directly proportional to the level
of the imposed stress, and that the values were different (p <
0.01) for genotypes (Table 1, Figure 3A), this compound may be
considered as a biochemical indicator of tolerance to drought
in these hybrids, when quantified in the embryo axis. Besides
being an osmoprotector compound, it is speculated that the
proline can also act as an inducer of secondary dormancy of
embryo axis under drought, as observed for sorghum (Thakur
& Sharma, 2005). Thus, this amino acid may take part in the
system that protects key vital molecules of seed tissues and also,
in some way, associated or not to the abcisic acid (Thakur &
Sharma, 2005), may be involved in the induction of the embryo
axis dormancy under low water availability, which agrees with
the results of this research.
Trehalose was found in the endosperm and embryo axis
of the germinating seeds, and its content varied with osmotic
potential (p > 0.05) independently of the hybrid (Table 1,

Figure 3B). The trehalose content in the embryo axis of
seeds germinating with no water limitation (0.0 MPa) was
clearly (R2 = 0.99, p < 0.01) higher than that in the stressed
ones (Figure 3B). Also, under intense stress (-1.2 MPa), the
trehalose level in the embryo axis tended to reduce even more.
In the endosperm tissue, the trehalose concentration was
lower than that for embryo axis. Although data of trehalose
in the endosperm have presented a less clear adjustment to
the average effect equation (R2 = 0.34, p < 0.05), the behavior
of this equation was similar to that observed for embryo axis
data. These results indicate that with increase of stress, the
seeds tended to consume trehalose, rather than accumulate
it. This behavior is opposite to the trend observed for the
proline contents (Figure 3B).
The fact that higher concentrations of trehalose were
detected in seeds after 10 days germinating under no water
limitation suggests that this compound must be produced by
the endosperm as a metabolite for the germination process.
Also, the lower concentrations found in seeds germinating
under stress conditions may be an indication that its
production, from the reserves stored in the endosperm,
decreased more than its consumption by seed tissues. Then,
these results suggest that trehalose in maize seeds germinating
under water stress is more used as energy source than as
osmoprotector compound. This explanation is reinforced by
the fact that the increase in the proline accumulation under
more limiting conditions certainly required extra carbon, and
energy source, and trehalose must have been used to support
proline synthesis. Therefore, in seeds germinating under low
osmotic potential, the trehalose may have a similar role to
its isomer sucrose, as suggested before by Grennan (2007).
Moreover, trehalose presented similar tendencies of the GI
and GSI, which are variables related to growth (Tables 1 and
2). So, this is another evidence that this carbohydrate has more
importance as storage compound than as osmoregulator, in
maize seeds germinating under stress conditions.
The analysis of interactions among the studied variables
(Table 2) indicated that variables that quantify the germination
process showed high correlation among themselves as well
as with some metabolic variables. Thus, the seeds with faster
germination (high GSI, and low ATG) also presented more dry
mass of shoot and root as well as higher trehalose content in
the embryo axis, compared to those having low GSI and high
ATG. The opposite has occurred with the behavior of proline
content, either in the endosperm or embryo axis.
The negative correlation among the proline content in
the endosperm with the dry matter of shoot and root (Table
2) indicates that, under stress conditions, the metabolism in
the proline synthesis pathway had priority in detriment of
the germination process. It is interesting to mention that the
embryo axis dry matter does not show significant correlation
with any other studied variable (Table 2). This is an indication
that the seed tends to keep the embryo axis alive and protected
from the effects of the water limitation, mainly by accumulating
proline in this tissue. Also, the negative correlation between
the levels of proline in the embryo axis and trehalose in the
endosperm (Table 2) reinforces the idea that, under water
27
Table 2. Correlations (Pearson test) among the studied variables, measured in maize seedlings after 10 days germinating
under decreasing osmotic potential
GI - Germination index; GSI - Germination speed index; ATG - Average time for germination; ProEN - Proline content in the endosperm; ProEA - Proline content in the embryo axis; TreEN - Trehalose
content in the endosperm; TreEA - Trehalose content in the embryo axis; SDM - Shoot dry mass; ENDM - Endosperm dry mass; EADM - Embryo axis dry mass; RDM - Root dry mass; * Significant
correlation at p < 0.05; ** Significant correlation at p < 0.01; ns not significant (p > 0.05)
stress, the trehalose is carried to the embryo to be used as

energy and carbon source to the synthesis of proline.
Conclusions
1. Maize seeds are able to develop mechanism of
osmoprotection when germinating under water limitation.
2. The proline contents in the embryo axis of maize seeds
germinating under water limitation are directly proportional
to the intensity of this stress.
3. Distinct hybrids show different proline levels accumulated
in the embryo axis, when seeds are germinating under the same
conditions of water limitation.
4. The content of trehalose decreases in the tissues of maize
seeds germinating under water limitation in trend not directly
proportional to the intensity of this stress.
5. Trehalose in maize seeds germinating under low osmotic
potential is more used as energy source for germination and
proline synthesis in the embryo axis, than as osmoprotector
compound.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Joo Atlio Jorge
(USP-Ribeiro Preto) for his help in offering inocula of the
Rhizopus microsporus and guidelines to grow this fungus
aiming the production of trehalase, and Dr. Joo Martins
Pizauro Junior (Unesp-Jaboticabal) for his technical support
on the purification of the trehalase used in this work.
This research was financially supported by FAPESP - So
Paulo State Research Foundation (Proc. 2007/54.746-2),
CAPES - Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel
Superior, and CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento
Cientfico e Tecnolgico.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.2935, 2016

Growth and yield of sugarcane as a function

of phosphorus doses and forms of application
Abel W. de Albuquerque1, Leopoldo de A. S1, William A. R. Rodrigues1,
Adriano B. Moura1 & Manoel dos S. Oliveira Filho1
1
Universidade Federal de Alagoas/Centro de Cincias Agrrias. Rio Largo, AL. E-mail: awa.albuquerque@hotmail.com; leo_sa90@hotmail.com
(Corresponding author); william.agro88@gmail.com; adriano_syous@hotmail.com; msoliveira21@gmail.com
Key words:
phosphorus fertilizer
soil management
agroindustrial yield
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate sugarcane growth and its agricultural and industrial yield
influenced by phosphorus (P) sources and forms of application. The experiment was carried
out at the Paisa Sugar Mill, in Penedo-AL, Brazil, from February 2012 to February 2013.
The adopted experimental design was a randomized block in a factorial arrangement, with
four replicates. The treatments consisted of five doses of triple superphosphate applied in
the planting furrow (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5), and three doses of Bayvar
reactive phosphate rock (0, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5) applied in the total area. Phosphorus
applied in the planting furrow improved sugarcane quality through the reduction of fiber and
increases in purity, corrected pol, total recoverable sugar, ton of pol per hectare (TPH) and
ton of sugarcane per hectare (TSH). The Bayvar reactive phosphate rock promoted increases
in stem diameter at 120 days after planting (DAP), TPH and TSH. For the interaction triple
superphosphate applied in the planting furrow x Bayvar reactive phosphate rock applied
in the total area, there were significant differences in the number of tillers at 30 DAP, stem
diameter at 120 DAP and TSH.
Palavras-chave:
fertilizante fosfatado
manejo do solo
rendimento agroindustrial
Crescimento e produtividade da cana-de-acar

em funo de doses e formas de aplicao de fsforo
RESUMO
Props-se, com este estudo, avaliar o crescimento e a produtividade agrcola e industrial
da cana-de-acar influenciada por fontes, doses e formas de aplicao de fsforo. O
experimento foi conduzido na Usina Paisa, Penedo - AL, no perodo de fevereiro de 2012
a fevereiro de 2013. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados
em arranjo fatorial, com quatro repeties. Os tratamentos consistiram de cinco doses de
superfosfato triplo P2O5 (0, 50, 100, 150 e 200 kg ha-1 de P2O5) aplicadas no sulco de plantio
e trs doses de P2O5 (0, 100 e 200 kg ha-1) com a fonte fosfato natural reativo Bayvar,
aplicado em rea total. O fsforo aplicado no sulco de plantio promoveu melhorias na
qualidade da cana-de-acar pela reduo da fibra e do aumento da pureza, do pol da
cana corrigido, do acar total recupervel e acar provvel por hectare (TPH) alm de
ter aumentado a produtividade de colmos por hectare (TCH). O fosfato natural reativo
proporcionou acrscimos no dimetro do colmo aos 120 dias aps o plantio (DAP), TPH
e TCH. A interao superfosfato triplo no sulco de plantio x fosfato natural reativo em
rea total exerceu efeitos significativos na populao de perfilhos aos 30 DAP, dimetro do
colmo aos 120 DAP e TCH.
30
Abel W. de Albuquerque et al.
Introduction
The expansion of sugarcane fields in Brazil has been
intensified because of the increasing demand for biofuels,
especially from ethanol and sugar production, its main product
(Ferreira Jnior et al., 2012; Moura Filho et al., 2014). Brazil
is the global leader in sugarcane production, with about 634.8
million tons per season. The state of Alagoas is responsible
for 22.4 million tons, occupying the sixth position among the
producing states. Despite being the largest sugarcane producer
in the Northeast region of Brazil, Alagoas has a sugarcane yield
below the national average. In the 2014/2015 season, the state
obtained mean yield of 58.2 t ha-1, against a national mean of
70.5 t ha-1 (CONAB, 2015).
The low yield of sugarcane fields in the state of Alagoas is
mostly due to the low fertility of its soils, which reduces plant
growth and development (Melo Filho et al., 2007). In this
context, the use of soil management practices can contribute to
increase the fertility of these soils, thus increasing agricultural
yield.
Although phosphorus (P) is absorbed in lower amounts
by the sugarcane crop, compared with other primary
macronutrients (Espironelo et al., 1986; Reis Jnior &
Monnerat, 2003), it plays an important role in photosynthesis,
root development, tillering and in sugarcane yield and quality
(Meyer & Wood, 2001).
Phosphate fertilizers can be classified as soluble or little
soluble. The soluble ones have been commonly used for
having high agronomic efficiency in the short term, but with
a high cost. On the other hand, the less soluble sources, such
as reactive natural phosphates, are characterized by low initial
dissolution speed, with lower cost per ton of fertilizer (Santos
et al., 2012). However, considering the cumulative production
of many crops after P application, the performance of some
natural phosphates can become equal to that of more soluble
sources (Resende et al., 2006).
In this context, this study aimed to evaluate sugarcane
growth and its agricultural and industrial yields, influenced
by P sources, doses and forms of application.

The study was conducted from February 23, 2012, to
February 19, 2013, at the Paisa Sugar Mill, in the municipality
of Penedo-AL, Brazil (10 16 47 S; 36 24 47 W). The
experimental area is located on the Coastal Plains and the soil
is classified as typical distrophic Yellow Latosol, with medium
texture and moderate A horizon.
The statistical design was randomized blocks, in a 5 x 3
factorial scheme, with four replicates. Each plot consisted
of eight 20-m long rows, combined with spacing of 1.4 x 0.9
m. The evaluation area consisted of the four central rows,

considering a length of 10 m.
The treatments were five doses of P2O5 (0, 50, 100, 150 and
200 kg ha-1), using the source triple superphosphate applied in
the planting furrow, and three doses of P2O5 (0, 100 and 200 kg
ha-1), using the source Bayvar reactive phosphate rock applied
in the total area. Soil tillage consisted of one harrowing and one
furrowing. Liming was not necessary, since the soil had base
saturation (V%) higher than 60% (Table 1). The soil showed
contents of phosphorus and potassium considered very low,
according to the classification proposed by Raij et al. (1996).
Fertilization in the planting furrow was performed using 70
kg ha-1 of N, as ammonium sulfate, and 140 kg ha-1 of K2O, as
potassium chloride. The sugarcane variety RB92579 was used,
for its production potential in the Northeast region of Brazil.
Climate data were obtained from the weather station
of the Paisa Sugar Mill and the mean temperature in the
region was 26.2 C, with mean maximum of 30.5 C and
mean minimum of 21.9 C. Relative air humidity ranged
from 65 to 95% and the total rainfall was equal to 1,321 mm.
Reference evapotranspiration was estimated through the
Penman-Monteith-FAO-56 method (Allen et al., 1998) and the
obtained value was 1,617 mm. Rainfalls were concentrated in
the beginning of the experiment, in February, and from May
to August 2012. In the other months, the crop suffered water
stress, which limited its growth and yield.
For crop growth evaluation, the parameters stem diameter,
plant height and leaf area index (LAI) were used. Thirty plants
were randomly sampled in the evaluation area of each plot at
120, 240 and 360 days after planting (DAP). In addition, the
number of tillers per linear meter was evaluated, considering
the total number in the evaluation area at 30, 90, 120, 150,
270 and 360 DAP.
Leaf area (LA) was calculated according to Eq. 1 (Hermann
& Cmara, 1999):
LA = ( L W 0.75 ) ( N + 2 )
(1)
where:
LA - leaf area, m2;
L - length of the +3 leaf, m;
W - width of the +3 leaf, m;
0.75 - correction factor for crop leaf area; and
N - number of open leaves with at least 20% of green
area.
The leaf area index (LAI) was calculated through Eq. 2:
LAI =
LA NT
S
(2)
Table 1. Soil chemical analyses in the layers of 0-20 and 20-40 cm, before experiment installation, Paisa Sugar Mill,
Penedo-AL, Brazil
OM - Organic matter; CEC - Cation exchange capacity; V - Base saturation
Growth and yield of sugarcane as a function of phosphorus doses and forms of application
where:
LA - leaf area, m2;
NT - number of tillers per meter; and
S - spacing between rows, m.
For stem diameter determination, a caliper was used at the
height corresponding to the middle section of the plant, from
its base; plant height was measured with a tape measure from
the soil surface to the last visible auricle region of the +1 leaf.
At the end of the cycle (360 days), sugarcane was harvested
and weighed for the estimation of the tons of sugarcane per
hectare (TSH) in the evaluation area. For the determination of
agro-industrial characteristics, 10 stalks were randomly sampled
in each plot and analysed in the Laboratory of Technological
Analysis of the Paisa Sugar Mill, for the contents of soluble solids
(Brix, %), fiber (%), purity (%), corrected pol (CP, %) and total
recoverable sugar (TRS). The probable ton of pol per hectare
(TPH) was obtained by multiplying TSH by CP/100.
The data were subjected to analysis of variance and F
test, using the statistical program SAEG 5.0. The significant
interactions between factors were evaluated using regression
analysis; the coefficients of the components of each model were
tested and the significant models with the highest coefficients
of determination (R2 adjusted) were selected using the program
Fcalc (Moura Filho & Cruz, 1996).
31
Table 3. Regression equations for the number of tillers at

30 days after planting (DAP) and stem diameter at 120
DAP
A.
B.

According to the summary of the analysis of variance (Table
2), there was significant effect of P doses in the planting furrow
on the variables purity, fiber, CP, TRS, TPH and TSH; for the
P doses applied in the total area, the effect was significant for
stem diameter at 120 DAP, TPH and TSH. As to the interaction
Localized x Total Area, there was significant effect for the
number of tillers at 30 DAP, stem diameter at 120 DAP and
TSH. There were no significant effects for plant height, LAI
and Brix.
For the number of tillers, there was significant effect (p <
0.01) for the interaction L x TA at 30 DAP. For the treatment
without P application in the total area, there was exponential
effect, according to the equation shown in Table 3.
For the dose of 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5 applied in the total area,
there was a decreasing linear effect on the number of tillers,
while the dose of 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5, also applied in the total
area, caused a quadratic response (Figure 1A). From 90 DAP
Figure 1. (A) Number of tillers (linear m-1) at 30 days after

planting (DAP) and (B) Stem diameter (mm) at 120 DAP, as
a function of phosphorus doses and forms of application
Table2. Analysis of variance for number of tillers at 30 days after planting (DAP), stem diameter at 120 DAP, purity,
fiber, corrected pol (CP), total recoverable sugar (TRS), ton of pol per hectare (TPH) and ton of sugarcane per hectare
(TSH), as a function of phosphorus doses and forms of application
*Significant at 0.01 probability level; **Significant at 0.05 probability level and nsNot significant; L - Localized P fertilization in the planting furrow (triple superphosphate); TA - P fertilization
in the total area (Bayvar reactive phosphate rock)
32
on, there was no significant effect with respect to P doses and

forms of application for this growth variable.
Santos et al. (2009), evaluating P sources on sugarcane
growth in the municipality of Coruripe-AL, did not observe
significant effect of different P sources on the number of
tillers of the plant cane, although P is considered essential for
tillering and root system growth in grasses, increasing their
yields (Santos et al., 2002).
As to stem diameter, there was significant effect (p < 0.05)
for the P application in the total area and the interaction L x
TA (p < 0.05) at 120 DAP. From 240 DAP on, there was no
significant effect of P doses and forms of application.
For the treatment without P application in the total area,
the response of stem diameter was best represented by the
mean, with value of 13 mm (Figure 1B). For the dose of 100
kg ha-1 of P2O5 applied in the total area, combined with the
application of 173 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the planting furrow, a
maximum diameter of 15 mm was observed. The dose of
200 kg ha-1 of P2O5 applied in the total area caused a lower
response, compared with the other treatments. Caione et
al. (2011), studying P doses and forms of application on
the sugarcane crop, observed no significant effect for stem
diameter.
Juice purity was influenced (p < 0.01) only by the application
of P doses in the planting furrow. According to Figure 2A, the
effect of the doses promoted a quadratic response, reaching
a purity value of 90.35%, with the maximum dose of 130 kg
ha-1 of P2O5. All the treatments showed values above 85% of
purity, with mean of 89.5%, which is essential to obtain good
juice quality, increasing the quality of the produced sugar
and, consequently, its economic value.
In So Paulo, a minimum juice purity of 80% is
recommended for sugarcane industrialization at the
beginning of the season and 85% at the end of the season
(Franco, 2003).
For fiber content, the effect was significant (p < 0.01) for
the P doses applied in the planting furrow. The lowest fiber
content (Figure 2B) (12.9 %) was obtained at the dose of
97.5 kg ha-1 of P2O5. This is different from the result reported
by Simes Neto et al. (2012), who analysed agro-industrial
sugarcane characteristics as a function of phosphate
fertilization and did not observe significant values for fiber
contents. Currently, fiber contents between low and medium
are desired in electricity generation and production of
cellulosic ethanol.
CP values also showed significant effect (p < 0.05) with
respect to P fertilization in the planting furrow, and the dose
of 69 kg ha-1 promoted the highest sucrose content (16.8%),
thus contributing to a higher sugarcane price (Figure 2C). This
result is similar to that obtained by Elamin et al. (2007), in a
study conducted in Sudan, who concluded that P deficiency
results in significant decrease in sucrose accumulation in the
sugarcane, because P fertilization directly affects the amount
of sugar and juice purity.
As to TRS, there was a significant effect (p < 0.05) in
relation to the localized P doses. The effect of the doses
promoted a quadratic response and, based on the regression
equation (Figure 2D), the highest TRS content (161.6 kg t-1)
A.
B.
C.
D.
Doses of P2O5 in the planting furrow (kg ha-1)
Figure 2. (A) Purity (%), (B) Fiber (%), (C) corrected pol
(CP, %) and (D) total recoverable sugar (TRS, kg t-1), as
a function of phosphorus doses applied in the planting
furrow
was obtained with 114 kg ha-1 of P2O5. On the other hand,
Korndrfer & Melo (2009), evaluating the effect of solid and
liquid P sources locally applied, did not observe significant
differences in the agro-industrial characteristics of the
sugarcane variety SP71-1406.
Currently, sugarcane has been paid for its high qualitative
indices, i.e., the better the quality of the raw material, the
higher is the price paid per ton of stalk (Farias et al., 2009). In
general, the results of this study show that the quality of the
raw material can be improved with phosphate fertilization
applied in the planting furrow.
TSH data showed significance for P fertilization applied
locally (p < 0.01), in the total area (p < 0.05) and for the
interaction Localized x Total Area (p < 0.05). According
to the regression equation, for the application of P in the
planting furrow, in the absence of P in the total area, the dose
of 78 kg ha-1 of P2O5 promoted a maximum sugarcane yield
of 56.7 t ha-1. The dose of 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5 applied in the
total area, combined with 98 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the planting
furrow, resulted in the production of 59.4 t ha-1 of marketable
stalks. The dose of 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5 applied in the total area,
combined with 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the planting furrow,
promoted a maximum sugarcane production of 67.3 t ha-1
(Figure 3).
These results corroborate with those observed by Morelli
et al. (1991), who worked with magnesium thermal phosphate
in the cycles of plant cane and ratoon cane and observed
better results with the combination of 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in
the total area and 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the planting furrow.
However, Caione et al. (2011), analysing P doses and forms
of application on sugarcane, concluded that the forms of
application promoted similar yields and the application in the
planting furrow is more viable, because it is less expensive.
33
Korndrfer & Melo (2009) observed a positive response in

stalk production for localized phosphate fertilization, in which
the dose of 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5 promoted yields from 131.9 to
146.1 t ha-1, varying according to the source used. The yield
obtained in the present study is lower than that observed by
many authors in experiments with plant cane (Santos et al.,
2009; Calheiros et al., 2012). This probably occurred because
the crop has undergone periods of low water availability in the
months of March and April 2012 and from September 2012
until the harvest, in February 2013.
The reduction in water availability may also have decreased
crop response to phosphate fertilization, since the diffusion is
the most expressive mechanism of P transport in the soil, and
it depends on many factors, among which the volumetric water
content in the soil (Costa et al., 2006).
TPH was influenced (p < 0.01) by the P doses applied in
the planting furrow. According to the quadratic regression
equation, which best represented the data, the dose of 97 kg
ha-1 of P2O5 resulted in the maximum production of 10.01 t
pol ha-1 (Figure 4A).
As to the significance (p < 0.05) of TPH values for the doses
applied in the total area, the equation was linear; therefore, the
maximum dose of 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5 promoted the maximum
value of 9.96 t pol ha-1 (Figure 4B). Simes Neto et al. (2012),
studying agro-industrial sugarcane characteristics, as a
A.
B.
Figure 3. Ton of sugarcane per hectare (TSH) as a function

of phosphorus doses and forms of application
Figure 4. Ton of pol per hectare (TPH) as a function of

phosphorus doses applied in the planting furrow (A) and
in the total area (B)
34
function of phosphate fertilization, observed that the highest

increments in TSH and TPH occurred for the same P doses,
which indicates a limitation of the soils related to P deficiency
or low availability, regardless of their chemical, physical or
mineralogical characteristics.
Conclusions
1. The application of phosphorus in the planting furrow
influenced purity, fiber, corrected pol, total recoverable sugar,
ton of pol per hectare (TPH) and ton of sugarcane per hectare
(TSH).
2. Phosphate application in the total area promoted
increases in stem diameter at 120 days after planting (DAP),
TPH and TSH.
3. There was significant effect for the interaction Localized
x Total Area for the number of tillers at 30 DAP, stem diameter
at 120 DAP and TSH.
4. The maximum yield was obtained with the combination
of 200 kg ha-1 of P2O5 in the total area and 100 kg ha-1 of P2O5
applied in the planting furrow.
Acknowledgments
To the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher
Education Personnel (CAPES), for the scholarship, and to the
Paisa Sugar Mill, for providing support and the experimental
area.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.3641, 2016

Rapeseed population arrangement defined by adaptability

and stability parameters
Cleusa A. M. B. Krger1, Sandro L. P. Medeiros2, Jos A. G. da Silva1,
Genei A. Dalmago3, Ana P. F. Valentini4 & Juliano F. Wagner4
Universidade Regional do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul/Departamento de Estudos Agrrios. Iju, RS. E-mail: cleusa.bianchi@unijui.edu.br
(Corresponding author); jagsfaem@yahoo.com.br
2
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria/Centro de Cincias Rurais. Santa Maria, RS. E-mail: slpmedeiros@yahoo.com.br
3
Embrapa Trigo. Passo Fundo, RS. E-mail: genei.dalmago@embrapa.br
4
Bayer CropScience/Unidade de Pesquisa Cruz Alta. Cruz Alta, RS. E-mail: ana.fontanavalentini@yahoo.com.br; juliano.wagner@yahoo.com.br
1
Key words:
Brassica napus L.
inter-row spacing
plant density
grain yield
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to identify the plant arrangement that allows greater grain
yield with adaptability and stability of rapeseed hybrids. The experiments were conducted in
randomized block design with four replicates and the 12 treatments consisted of combination
of inter-row spacings (0.20, 0.40, and 0.60 m) and plant densities (20, 40, 60 and 80 plants
m-2). The hybrids Hyola 432 (early cycle) and Hyola 61 (medium cycle) were cultivated
in three growing seasons (2008, 2009 and 2010). Grain yield was evaluated based on the
parameters adaptability and stability according to the models of Wricke and Eberhart &
Russell. The plant arrangement for obtaining higher grain yield depends on the cultivated
genotype. Higher grain yield was obtained in the arrangements of 0.20 m x 60 and 0.40 m
x 60 plants m-2 for Hyola 432, and in 0.20 m x 60 plants m-2 for Hyola 61, in the three years
of evaluation. In the inter-row spacing of 0.40 m and densities of 40 and 60 plants m-2,
Hyola 432 shows high yield, adaptability to wide environments and stability. For Hyola 61,
high productivity with overall adaptability was obtained in the inter-row spacing of 0.40
m, with 60 plants m-2.
Palavras-chave:
Brassica napus L.
espaamento entre linhas
densidade de plantas
produtividade de gros
Arranjo populacional em canola definido

pelos parmetros de adaptabilidade e estabilidade
RESUMO
Props-se, com este trabalho, identificar o arranjo de plantas que possibilite maior
produtividade de gros com adaptabilidade e estabilidade em hbridos de canola. Os
experimentos foram desenvolvidos em blocos ao acaso com quatro repeties nos 12
tratamentos da combinao entre o espaamento entre linhas (0,20, 0,40, 0,60 m) e a
densidade de plantas (20, 40, 60 e 80 plantas m-2). Foram cultivados os hbridos Hyola
432 - ciclo precoce e Hyola 61 - ciclo mdio, em trs safras agrcolas (2008, 2009 e 2010).
Foi avaliada a produtividade de gros pelos parmetros de adaptabilidade e estabilidade
pelo modelo de Wricke e de Eberhart e Russell. O arranjo de plantas para a obteno de
maior produtividade de gros depende do gentipo cultivado. A produtividade de gros
para o Hyola 432 foi maior nos arranjos de plantas de 0,20 m x 60 e 0,40 m x 60 plantas
m-2 e para o Hyola 61 no arranjo de 0,20 m x 60 plantas m-2, nos trs anos de avaliao.
No espaamento entre linhas de 0,40 m e densidade de 40 e 60 plantas m-2 o Hyola 432
evidencia alta produtividade, adaptabilidade a ambientes amplos e estabilidade. No Hyola
61 a alta produtividade com adaptabilidade geral foi obtida no espaamento entre linhas
de 0,40 m com 60 plantas m-2.
Rapeseed population arrangement defined by adaptability and stability parameters
Introduction
The state of Rio Grande do Sul has the highest production
of rapeseed in Brazil, with mean of 39.5 thousand tons and
yield of 1,320 kg ha-1 (CONAB, 2013). Rapeseed yield has
great variations along the cultivation years. These variations
can occur due to the differences in meteorological conditions
from year to year (Dalmago et al., 2009), losses through natural
threshing, due to uneven maturation of siliques (Silva et al.,
2011) and management practices, such as sowing spacing and
density (Shahin & Valiollah, 2009).
Rapeseed management practices were reported by Tomm
(2007), who indicates orchards with 40 plants m-2, uniformly
distributed, with the lowest spacing available in the sowing
machine; however, this author also highlights successful results
with spacings of up to 45 cm between rows. In this context,
Chavarria et al. (2011) point out that the efforts in research
and development are incipient for rapeseed, and there is a lack
of technical-scientific information on crop management, such
as adequate inter-row spacing and sowing density.
Rapeseed is a grain-producing species with phenotypical
plasticity, which determines plant morphological adjustment
to different conditions of space and light, thus showing
compensating mechanisms among the different plant
components, which alter the relationships of source and sink
(Jullien et al., 2011). Therefore, an adequate plant arrangement
can contribute to higher uniformity of silique maturation, as
well as to the increase in grain yield (Bandeira et al., 2013).
Shahin & Valiollah (2009) point out that rapeseed yield is
more stable when plants are uniformly distributed. Therefore,
indicating a plant arrangement that allows high grain yield and
silique maturation uniformity is of great importance for the
consolidation of the crop in Brazil.
The use of biometric models that allow estimating the
stability of grain yield represents valuable information for
the recommendation of cultivars and/or adjustment of
the best crop management (Silva & Duarte, 2006). Among
these models, adaptability and stability models, through the
quantification of their parameters, aim to define the response
of genotypes to specific environmental conditions (Benin et
al., 2005). There are different models for the determination of
these parameters. The method of Eberhart & Russell (1966) is
based on simple linear regression of the genotype as a function
of environmental indices. The linear regression coefficient
(1i) is a measurement of the adaptability and the standard
deviations (2di) are a measurement of the stability. The ideal
genotype is that with regression coefficient equal to one and
with the lowest regression deviation possible (Cruz & Carneiro,
2003). The model of Wricke (1965) employs the methodology
called ecovalence, which decomposes the sum of the squares
of the interaction into parts attributed to each genotype and
considers as the most stable the one with the lowest estimate
of ecovalence (i) (Cruz & Carneiro, 2003). The models of
Wricke (1965) and Eberhart & Russell (1966) have been used
in various studies with grain-producing species, such as in Silva
& Duarte (2006) with soybean, Cargnelutti Filho et al. (2007)
with corn and Pereira et al. (2009), with bean.
Rapeseed performance is directly associated with
management practices and the meteorological conditions
37
during its cycle, notably air temperature and rainfall (Dalmago

et al., 2009). The need for the generation of scientific
information in order to improve the state of the art regarding
the management practices for the success of this crop must
be highlighted.
This study aimed to identify the arrangement of plants
that allows higher grain yield with adaptability and stability
in rapeseed hybrids.

The studies were carried out in the agricultural years
of 2008, 2009 and 2010, at the Regional Institute of Rural
Development (IRDeR), linked to the Department of Agrarian
Studies of the Regional University of Northwestern Rio Grande
do Sul (UNIJU), in Augusto Pestana-RS, Brazil (28 26 306
S; 54 00 58 W; 298 m). The soil in the experimental area
is classified as typical distroferric Red Latosol (Santos et al.,
2006). The climate in the region is Cfa (subtropical), according
to Kppens classification.
The experiments were set in a randomized block design,
with four replicates. The treatments of plant arrangements
considered three inter-row spacings (0.20, 0.40 and 0.60 m)
and four plant densities (20, 40, 60 and 80 plants m-2) in the
following combinations: 0.20 x 20, 0.20 x 40, 0.20 x 60, 0.20 x
80, 0.40 x 20, 0.40 x 40, 0.40 x 60, 0.40 x 80, 0.60 x 20, 0.60 x 40,
0.60 x 60 and 0.60 x 80. The hybrids Hyola 432, with early cycle,
and Hyola 61, with medium cycle, were used in this study. The
experimental unit consisted of five 5-m-long rows, changing
the dimensions of the area according to the proposed spacings.
Soil correction and crop fertilization were performed
according to the soil analysis for an expected grain yield of
approximately 1,500 kg ha-1. Sowing was manually performed
in the third week of May, in the years of 2008 and 2009, and
in the last week of June, in 2010, as recommended by the
agroclimatic zoning for rapeseed. An amount of seeds greater
than the minimum necessary for each density was used for
sowing. The final adjustment in the number of plants, in order
to obtain the desired plant densities, was performed through
thinning, when plants had two to three leaves. The analysed
variable was grain yield (kg ha-1), which was estimated through
the manual harvest of the entire plot and the drying of samples
until constant weight, close to 12%. Plots were harvested in
late October in 2008 and 2009, and in late November in 2010.
The analysis of variance was performed to identify the
interaction Cultivation Year versus Plant Arrangement in
rapeseed hybrids with different maturation cycles. Then, the
means were grouped through the method Scott-Knott at 0.05
probability level. The parameters adaptability and stability
were estimated through the method of simple regression of
Eberhart & Russell (1966) and stability through the method of
Wricke (1965). The stability model proposed by Wricke (1965)
considers as stable the genotypes with low values of ecovalence
(i). In the methodology proposed by Eberhart & Russell
(1966), genotypes with regression deviations (2di) equal to zero
are considered as stable and those with 2di 0 are considered
as unstable. Adaptability is given by the linear regression
coefficient (i), which classifies genotypes adapted to favorable
38
Cleusa A. M. B. Krger et al.
environments ( i > 1), genotypes adapted to unfavorable

environments (i < 1) and those with wide adaptation (i = 1)
(Cruz & Carneiro, 2003). The analysis were performed using
the computational program GENES (Cruz, 2006).
Table 2. Mean grain yield as a function of plant

arrangements in the cultivation years of two rapeseed
hybrids

According to the analysis of variance, there were significant
effects of the isolated factors (plant arrangement and cultivation
year) on the grain yields of the evaluated hybrids (Table
1). In addition, the interaction between factors also caused
significant effects and, thus, it needed to be detailed regarding
plant arrangement by evaluation year. The mean squares for
the cultivation years showed greater effects of this factor as
compared to plant arrangement, regardless of the tested hybrid.
Such condition evidences more pronounced effects of cultivation
year compared with plant arrangement, indicating that the
meteorological conditions of a certain year were more decisive
for the alterations in grain yield. Furthermore, the mean square
for the hybrid Hyola 432 was higher than that for Hyola 61,
which raises the hypothesis of higher instability of this hybrid
regarding the expression of grain yield.
Rapeseed grain yield is a result of the interaction between
genetic potential, management techniques, such as nitrogen
fertilization (Kaefer et al., 2014), and meteorological
conditions occurring during the crop cycle, associated with air
temperature (Dalmago et al., 2009). MarjanoviJeromela et al.
(2011) attributed yield variations in winter rapeseed along the
cultivation years to the irregular availability of rainfall during
the crop cycle, especially in the grain filling stage. In addition,
Bandeira et al. (2013) pointed out that an inadequate plant
arrangement in this species also tends to promote variations in
grain yield, especially because it is a species with indeterminate
growth habit (Koenig et al., 2011).
For Hyola 432, the highest grain yields in 2008 were
obtained with the arrangements of 0.20 x 60 and 0.40 x 60
(Table 2); in 2009, the highest yield occurred for the condition
of 0.20 x 60 and, in 2010, the best response was observed in
the arrangement of 0.40 x 60, similar to the year of 2008. The
inter-row spacings of 0.20 and 0.40 m were the most adequate
conditions for this hybrid, compared with Hyola 61, provided
that a plant density of 60 plants m-2 is maintained (Table 2).
According to the overall mean, the hybrid Hyola 432
showed superiority of grain yield (S) in the inter-row spacings
Table 1. Summary of the analysis of variance for grain yield
as a function of plant arrangement in different cultivation
years for two rapeseed hybrids
*Significant at 0.05 probability level by F test; DF Degrees of freedom
Means followed by the same lowercase letters in the column and uppercase letters in the
row do not differ at 0.05 probability level, according to the model of Scott-Knott; S - Superior
to the mean + 1 standard deviation; and I Inferior to the mean + 1 standard deviation
of 0.20 and 0.40 m associated with the density of 60 plants m-2

(Table 2). The inter-row spacing of 0.20 m with density of 40
plants m-2 also promoted the highest grain yield for Hyola 61.
However, in the inter-row spacing of 0.40 m, although Hyola
432 was not superior to Hyola 61, the obtained means were
close to those of the arrangement with the highest yield at
densities of 20 and 40 plants m-2.
Rapeseed grain yield, besides showing differences regarding
the cultivation years and plant arrangement, evidenced
different responses for the tested hybrids. Bandeira et al.
(2013) observed higher grain yield in spacing of 17 cm with
population density of 45 plants m-2 using the hybrid Hyola
61. On the other hand, Jacob Jnior el al. (2012) observed
higher grain yield using a density of 250 thousand plants per
hectare for the hybrid Toccata. Due to rapeseed phenotypical
plasticity, a factor related to the growth/flowering habit, the
great alterations in its morphology stand out (Sultan, 2003).
In the comparison between cultivation years for the hybrid
Hyola 432, the year of 2009 was favorable to the expression of
the highest grain yield, followed by 2010 and 2008, respectively,
which were different (Table 2). On the other hand, Hyola 61
showed similar grain yield response in the cultivation years
of 2009 and 2010, with the lowest grain yield in 2008. These
results tend to characterize the hybrid Hyola 432 as the one
with the highest instability for grain production, compared
with Hyola 61. Studies on genetic and environmental effects
show that 73% of the variation in grain yield in winter rapeseed

is explained by the environment, 8% by difference between
genotypes and 19% by the interaction genotype x environment
(MarjanoviJeromela et al., 2011).
Therefore, the determination of environments that are
favorable and stable for rapeseed grain yield becomes relevant.
39
The observed results, caused by the effects of cultivation

years, can also be confirmed by the analysis of the meteorological
conditions during the crop cycle (Figure 1). In the year of 2009,
rapeseed plants showed the highest grain yield, possibly due
to the highest rainfall observed along crop cycle (1124 mm),
A.
P 2008
Tmean 2008
B.
Rainfall (mm)
Temperature (oC)
P 2009
Tmean 2009
C.
P 2010
Tmean 2010
Jul
Aug
Sep
Months
Oct
Nov
Figure 1. Meteorological data of air temperature (Tmean) and rainfall (P) during the development of rapeseed in 2008
(A), 2009 (B) and 2010 (C)
40
Cleusa A. M. B. Krger et al.
compared with the climatological normal (1047 mm), different

from that in 2008, when rainfall was lower, especially in
September and, in 2010, in November, when the crop was in
the stage of flowering and grain filling.
The analysis of adaptability and stability of rapeseed in
different plant arrangements showed that, despite having the
highest grain yield means in the arrangements of 0.20 x 60
and 0.40 x 60, the hybrid Hyola 432 showed adaptability for
both favorable and unfavorable cultivation environments only
in the arrangement of 0.40 x 60 (Table 3). On the other hand,
there was no stability in the arrangement of 0.40 x 60, since
2di was significant, indicating that the mean value of grain
yield, although high, did not point to stability of expression
in this condition.
The plant arrangements of 0.20 x 80 and 0.40 x 40 also
promoted yields above 1000 kg ha -1 and, despite showing
wide adaptability, were not stable according to the model of
Eberhart & Russell (1966). Nevertheless, Hyola 432 in the
plant arrangement of 0.40 x 60 was the most stable condition,
according to the model of Wricke (1965), with a lower
ecovalence value compared with the arrangement of 0.20 x
60 (Table 3).
In the hybrid Hyola 61, the arrangements of 0.40 x 60
and 0.40 x 80 simultaneously promoted high grain yield and
adaptability to favorable and unfavorable environments (Table
3). The plant arrangements of 0.20 x 40, 0.20 x 60 and 0.20 x 80 m
showed specific adaptability to favorable environments (1 >
Table 3. Mean grain yield and parameters of adaptability and
stability in rapeseed according to Eberhart & Russell (1966)
and Wricke (1965), as a function of plant arrangement
1). Rapeseed plants in the inter-row spacing of 0.20 m and at

densities of 60 and 80 plants m-2 showed stability according to
the model of Eberhart & Russell (1966). The arrangement of
0.40 x 40, besides promoting high grain yield mean, showed an
interesting peculiarity; although it showed stability, it indicated
specific adaptability to unfavorable environments. This
condition could be more appropriate for the recommendation
to farmers with lower technological support or from areas with
higher agro-ecological variations. In general, the inter-row
spacing of 0.40 m with density of 60 plants m-2 is the most
adequate condition, because it shows high grain yield mean
with general adaptability (Table 3).
The analysis of adaptability and stability have been
increasingly used in the identification of cultivars with more
stable and predictable behavior regarding the environmental
variations (Silva & Duarte, 2006), as well as in the definition of
more adequate cultivation techniques (Krger et al., 2011). It
should be pointed out that there could be different responses
between the methods of estimation of adaptability and stability
(Cargnelutti Filho et al., 2007) as observed in the present study.
This is somehow expected, since the method of Wricke (1965)
indicates that the stability does not depend on mean yield and
adaptability to general environments, favorable and unfavorable,
contrary to the model of Eberhart & Russell (1966).
In the present study, it was possible to indicate, using stability
and adaptability models, a more adequate plant arrangement
for two rapeseed hybrids, considering the meteorological
conditions of different seasons. This information is of great
importance because these are species with indeterminate
growth habit, responsive to alterations in plant arrangement
and with lack of more specific recommendations for the
cultivation regions. The parameters of adaptability and
stability contribute to management adjustments and better
recommendation of cultivars. This is observed in species
of agricultural interest, such as corn for grain production
(Cargnelutti Filho et al., 2007), oat for the content of betaglucan (Crestani et al., 2010) and soybean for oil and protein
contents in the seeds (Rodrigues et al., 2014).
Conclusions
1. The arrangement of plants for obtaining the highest grain
yield depends on the cultivated genotype.
2. Grain yield was higher in the arrangements of 0.20 m x
60 plants m-2 and 0.40 m x 60 plants m-2 for Hyola 432 and in
the arrangement of 0.20 m x 60 plants m-2 for Hyola 61, in the
three evaluation years.
3. In the inter-row spacing of 0.40 m and densities of 40
and 60 plants m-2, Hyola 432 shows high yield, adaptability to
wide environments and stability. For Hyola 61, high yield with
general adaptability was obtained in the inter-row spacing of
0.40 m with 60 plants m-2.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.4248, 2016

Soil chemical properties and maize yield under application

of pig slurry biofertilizer
Marcelo E. Bcoli1, Jos R. Mantovani2, Jos M. Miranda2, Douglas J. Marques2 & Adriano B. da Silva2
1
2
Instituto Federal Sul de Minas. Muzambinho, MG. E-mail: mebbocoli@milbr.net

Universidade Jos do Rosrio Vellano/Faculdade de Agronomia. Alfenas, MG. E-mail: mantovanijr@yahoo.com (Corresponding author);
jose.miranda@unifenas.br; douglasjmarques81@yahoo.com.br; adriano.silva@unifenas.br
Key words:
organic fertilization
manure
waste
effluent
ABSTRACT
Organic materials subjected to a process of anaerobic digestion in a digester produce
biofertilizer that can be used in agriculture as nutrient source. The objective of this study
was to evaluate the effect of pig slurry biofertilizer on soil chemical properties and on corn
yield and nutrient concentrations in leaves and kernels. The experiment was conducted
in the field from November 2012 to April 2013, and was arranged in a randomized block
design with seven treatments and four replicates. The treatments consisted of doses of pig
slurry biofertilizer (0; 40; 80; 120; 160; 200 and 240 m3 ha-1), applied to the soil surface in
a single application, at stage V2 of corn plants. Thirty-three days after biofertilization, soil
samples were collected in each plot. Corn was harvested 129 days after sowing. Doses up
to 240 m3 ha-1 of pig slurry biofertilizer applied to soil with good fertility did not influence
soil chemical properties and corn yield. The use of pig slurry biofertilizer had no detectable
effect on nutrient concentrations in corn leaves and kernels.
Palavras-chave:
adubao orgnica
esterco
resduo
efluente
Atributos qumicos do solo e produtividade de milho

com aplicao de biofertilizante de dejetos sunos
RESUMO
Materiais orgnicos submetidos a um processo de digesto anaerbia, por meio de
biodigestor, produzem biofertilizante que pode ser utilizado na agricultura como fonte de
nutrientes. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de biofertilizante de dejeto
lquido de sunos em atributos qumicos do solo, na produtividade e no teor de nutrientes
nas folhas e nos gros de milho. O experimento foi realizado em condies de campo, de
novembro de 2012 a abril de 2013. Empregou-se delineamento experimental em blocos ao
acaso, com sete tratamentos em quatro repeties. Os tratamentos foram constitudos por
doses de biofertilizante de dejeto lquido de sunos, 0; 40; 80; 120; 160; 200 e 240 m3 ha-1,
aplicadas na superfcie do solo, de uma nica vez, no estdio fenolgico V2 do milho. Aos
33 dias aps a aplicao do biofertilizante foram coletadas, em cada parcela, amostras de
solo. A colheita foi realizada aos 129 dias aps a semeadura do milho. A aplicao de at
240 m3 ha-1 de biofertilizante de dejeto lquido de sunos, em solo com boas condies de
fertilidade, no alterou os atributos qumicos do solo e no influenciou na produtividade de
milho. O uso de biofertilizante de dejeto lquido de sunos no afetou os teores de nutrientes
no tecido foliar nem nos gros de milho.
Soil chemical properties and maize yield under application of pig slurry biofertilizer
Introduction
In piggery, the system used by most producers is to pen the
animals in small feedlots, resulting in the generation of large
amounts of waste in liquid form (Giacomini et al. 2014). Pig
slurry consists of feces, urine, uneaten feed, animal hair, and
varying amounts of water from the waterers and cleaning of
the installations (Sousa et al., 2014).
In the pig pens, each sow produces 35-40 L of waste per day,
and in the finishing phase, the daily production of manure per
animal varies from 12 to15 L (Seidel et al., 2010).
Pig slurry can be used in agriculture as a nutrient source for
plants, and its use as organic fertilizer allows greater nutrient
cycling in the environment (Lourenzi et al., 2014). Several
reports in the literature mention improvements in soil fertility
and increases in crop yields when using pig slurry as organic
fertilizer, without having gone through biodigestion (Ceretta
et al., 2003; 2005; Scherer et al., 2010; Lourenzi et al., 2014).
However, successive applications of this organic fertilizer can
promote excessive increases in P, Cu and Zn in soil, posing a
potential contamination risk of soil and surface and subsurface
water bodies (Ceretta et al., 2010; Girotto et al., 2010; Veiga
et al., 2012).
Pig slurry can be digested in an anaerobic process in a
biodigester, by which biogas is produced, useful as fuel, as
well as biodigester effluent, also called biofertilizer, suitable
as fertilizer in agriculture (Vilela Jnior et al., 2003; Silva et
al., 2012). In the anaerobic digestion, various types of bacteria
convert complex organic compounds into components with
simpler structure (Silva et al., 2012). As a result, the nutrients
in the biofertilizer are more readily available to plants than
those in undigested organic fertilizer (Vilela Jnior et al., 2003).
Furthermore, the biodigester can reduce 90% of chemical
oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand
(BDO) and up to 99% of coliforms (Silva et al., 2012).
In Brazil, studies involving the use of biodigesters were
related to wastewater treatment and energy use of biogas,
but information on the effect of biofertilizers on soil fertility
properties is scarce (Silva et al., 2012). The studies published
so far focus on vegetables (Vilela Jnior et al., 2003; Santos
et al., 2012; Sediyama et al., 2009; 2014) or pasture (Orrico
Jnior et al., 2012), but few field studies addressed pig slurry
biofertilization of cereals such as corn.
The goal of this study was to assess the effect of pig slurry
biofertilizer on soil chemical properties, corn yield and nutrient
concentrations in corn leaves and kernels.
43
Minas Gerais State, Brazil (21 o 18 00 S; 46 o 30 00 W;

1033 m asl). During the experiment, the temperature in the
experimental area ranged from 15 to 31 C and the cumulative
rainfall in the period was 1395 mm (Figure 1).
The soil of the experimental area was classified as Oxisol,
with clayey texture, on which maize was sown in the 2010/2011
and common bean in the 2011/2012 growing season. Prior to
the experiment, composite soil samples were collected (layers
0-0.20 m and 0.20-0.40 m), which were subjected to initial
chemical routine analysis (Silva, 1999) (Table 1). In these
layers soil particle-size analysis (Camargo et al., 2009) was
also performed, and the results were: 500 and 530 g kg-1 clay;
170 and 160 g kg-1 silt; 330 and 310 g kg-1 sand, respectively.
Soil tillage consisted of subsoiling, followed by disk
harrowing and two passings with a leveling harrow. No liming
was performed in the area, since the base saturation (V%) of
the top layer (0-0.20 m) was higher than that considered as
adequate for the crop (CFSEMG, 1999).
The experiment, with 7 treatments and 4 replicates, a total
of 28 plots, was arranged in a randomized block design. The
treatments consisted of rates of pig slurry biofertilizer (0, 40,
80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 m3 ha-1).
Each plot consisted of five 5-m long rows spaced 0.60 m
apart, amounting to a total area of 15
m2. The evaluated area
per plot consisted of the three central rows, disregarding
1.0 m at either end, resulting in a total area of 5.4 m2.
The corn hybrid Superis Viptera 3, genetically modified,
with an insecticidal agent event Bt (Bacillusthuringiensis), was
sown mechanically (8 seeds m-1), on 19/11/2012. Fertilization at
sowing was applied as described by CFSEMG (1999), based on
the results of the initial soil analysis (Table 1) and an expected
yield of over 8 t ha-1. To this end, 20 kg N ha-1 and 60 kg P2O5
ha-1 were applied at planting to all plots, using the sources
urea and superphosphate granules. After plant emergence,
in the V2 growth stage, plants were thinned to 4 plants m-1,
corresponding to a population of 66,667 plants ha-1.

The experiment was conducted in the field from November
2012 to April 2013, at the Federal Institute of Education,
Science and Technology of the South of Minas, Muzambinho,
Tmin and Tmax correspond to minimum and maximum air temperature, respectively
Figure 1. Air temperature and rainfall in the experimental

period
Table 1. Chemical analysis of the soil used in the experiment
OM Organic matter; H + Al Potential acidity; CEC Cation exchange capacity; V Base saturation
44
Marcelo E. Bcoli et al.
The biofertilizer was prepared through a continous

anaerobic digestion process in a tubular digester of pig slurry
with sewage consisting of waste water of the facilities. In a
sample of this organic fertilizer, the pH and water content were
determined and the chemical composition of the dry matter
(Tedesco et al., 1995) was analysed (Table 2).
The biofertilizer was applied five days after thinning, with
a 10 L watering can in a single, regular application on the soil
surface. Due to the high water content of the organic fertilizer
(Table 2), to avoid variations in soil moisture content in the
plots, water was sprinkled in sufficient amounts to guarantee
the same volume of liquid (water + biofertilizer) in all plots,
immediately after application of the biofertilizer rates.
Nitrogen fertilization, using 90 kg N ha-1 in the form of
ammonium sulfate, and hand weeding were performed in the
growth stage V4, in all plots. No pest and disease control was
necessary during the experiment.
From the evaluated area of each plot, composite soil samples
were collected (layers 0-0.10; 0.10-0.20; and 0.20-0.40 m) with
a probe, 33 days after biofertilization. One composite sample
per layer was mixed from 15 single samples. The soil samples
were analysed for routine chemical determinations and the
micronutrients Cu and Zn (Silva, 1999).
When about 50% of corn plants were tasseled, leaves
from the base of the ear were collected from 25 plants of
the observation area of each
plot (Cantarella et al., 1997), to

Table 2. Water content, pH values and chemical
composition of the dry matter of pig slurry biofertilizer
determine the macronutrient and Cu and Zn concentrations

in the plant tissue (Tedesco et al., 1995).
The ears of the evaluated area of each
plot were harvested

in April 2013, 129 days after sowing, to determine grain yield,
corrected to 12.5% moisture. In 12 ears of the evaluated area of
each plot, ear length and diameter were also measured with a
digital caliper besides the number of kernels per ear; and 1,000
grain weight. Grain samples of 200 g kernels per plot were
ground to determine the concentrations of macronutrients,
Cu and Zn in the kernels (Tedesco et al., 1995).
The results of the soil analysis for each layer, the
nutrient contents in leaves and kernels, grain yield and yield
components were subjected to analysis of variance, using
the F test as well as polynomial regression analysis. For this
purpose, the statistical program AgroEstat Version 1.0
(Barbosa & Maldonado Jnior, 2011) was used.

The application of pig slurry biofertilizer to the soil surface,
at rates of up to 240 m3 ha-1 did not significantly (p > 0.05)
change pH in CaCl2, organic matter, P-Mehlich, and K+, Ca2+,
Mg2+, Cu, and Zn concentrations in the three assessed soil
layers (0-0.1; 0.1-0.2; 0.2-0.4 m) (Tables 3 and 4). The other
soil chemical properties evaluated, potential acidity (H + Al)
and base saturation (V%) were not affected by fertilization with
the biodigester effluent either.
No improvement in soil fertility was observed after the
application of pig slurry biofertilizer, due to the high water
content (97.9%) of the material used, which caused dilution
in the nutrient concentrations of the organic fertilizer. In this
experiment, it was not possible to use rates greater than 240 m3
slurry ha-1, due to the difficulty of applying higher biofertilizer
rates with a watering can and the possibility of runoff of the
effluent, which could cause contamination of adjacent plots.
In the 0-0.1 m layer, the concentrations of P-Mehlich, K+,
2+
Ca , Mg2+, Cu and Zn were, respectively, 14 mg dm-3; 1.8; 27;
12 mmolc dm-3; 2.0 and 4.4 mg dm-3, amounts classified as
good, average, very good, good, high, high (CFSEMG, 1999).
In the 0.1-0.2 m layer, the mean levels of these nutrients were,
respectively, 8 mg dm-3; 1.6; 24; 10 mmolc dm-3; 2.0 and 2.7
mg dm-3, amounts classified as medium, medium, good, good,
high, high (CFSEMG, 1999).
Table 3. Values of soil pH, organic matter (OM), P and K, in the three studied layers, as related to the application of
pig slurry biofertilizer
NS
Not significant by F test (p > 0.05); CV - Coefficient of variation
45
Table 4. Concentrations of Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn in the three studied soil layers, as related to the application of pig slurry
biofertilizer
NS
The organic matter content of the soil was not altered by

the application of pig slurry biofertilizer (Table 3), due to the
low dry matter content of this organic fertilizer, low C/N ratio
and the presence of readily decomposable organic C in the
swine waste, aside from the likely increase in soil microbial
activity after effluent application (Ceretta et al., 2003; Sousa
et al., 2014).
Similar results were reported by Caovilla et al. (2010),
Medeiros et al. (2011) and Homem et al. (2014) in relation
to the soil fertility properties. Caovilla et al. (2010) found no
significant changes in pH, base saturation, and concentrations
of P, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ in soil drip-irrigated with swine
wastewater at different concentrations during soybean
cultivation. Medeiros et al. (2011) found that the use of swine
wastewater for cotton irrigation did not alter pH, soil organic
matter, P, Ca, Cu, and Zn in the topsoil (0-0.2 m). Homem
et al. (2014) observed that successive applications of swine
wastewater, which amounted to 150 m3 ha-1, did not increase
pH and P, K+, Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ concentrations in the 0-0.2
m soil layer in an area of Brachiaria
decumbens.
In a pot experiment, Duarte et al. (2008) found that there
was no change in pH and levels of P and K in soil irrigated
with wastewater from a sewage treatment, in sweet pepper
cultivation. According to these authors, the soil pH of the
effluent-irrigated areas may increase due to the increase in
the denitrification process, where one mole of H+ is consumed
for every denitrified mole of NO3-. Cabral et al. (2011), in
an experiment under field conditions with elephant grass,
observed that soil pH did not vary and that the P and Mg
concentrations in the soil increased with the application of up
to 750 m3 ha-1 of swine wastewater.
There are several reports in the literature of increased
levels of soil nutrients after pig slurry application under field
conditions (Ceretta et al., 2003; Scherer et al., 2010; Girotto
et al., 2010; Veiga et al., 2012). However, these studies used
organic fertilizers with a higher dry matter content compared
with the biofertilizer used in this experiment. In addition, these
studies tested successive pig slurry applications.
Ceretta et al. (2003) applied 28 rates of up to 40 m3 ha-1
of pig slurry to the surface of a pasture soil in 4 years, and
observed increases in Ca, Mg, and especially soil P, which
reached extremely high values in the 0-0.1 m layer. According
to these authors, there was no increase in soil pH, and K and
organic C after applying the organic fertilizer. Scherer et al.

(2010) found that in areas treated with swine waste in the long
term (around 15 years, and between 20 and 25 years), the P,
K, Cu and Zn concentrations increased markedly in the soil
surface layers, especially in 0-0.05 m.
Girotto et al. (2010) found linear increases in available Cu
and Zn concentrations in soil layers of a no-tillage area treated
with 17 applications of up to 80 m3 ha-1 of pig slurry over 78
months. According to the authors, the levels of available Cu
and Zn in the 0-0.10 m soil layer of the treatment with the
highest rate of organic fertilizer were, on average, 12 and 24
times higher, respectively, than in the control. Veiga et al.
(2012) found that continuous application of high pig slurry
rates, up to 200 m3 ha-1 yr-1 on the soil surface, resulted in
sharp increases in P, Cu and Zn concentrations to a depth of
0.2 m. These authors also reported a reduction in soil pH with
the application of organic fertilizer, and attributed it to the
acidification process of nitrification.
The concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn in corn
leaves were not affected (p> 0.05) by the application of pig
slurry biofertilizer to the soil surface (Table 5). The means
of these leaf nutrient levels were, respectively, 34; 3.0; 25; 4.1
and 2.0 g kg-1; 12 and 25 mg kg-1, and were within the range
considered as suitable for maize (Cantarella et al., 1997), which
expresses balanced nutritional level.
Nutrient concentrations, especially K and N, were expected
to increase in the soil and corn leaf tissue with the application
of pig slurry biofertilizer. This fact was not observed, probably
due to the N and K leaching caused by the biofertilizer to a soil
layer below those assessed in the experiment, which results
in non-use of these nutrients effluent by corn. In biofertilizer,
nutrients as N are more readily available to plants (Vilela
Jnior et al., 2003). However, these forms are also more prone
to leaching losses.
Similar results were obtained by Santos et al. (2012) and
Sediyama et al. (2014), who detected no changes in foliar N, P
and K concentrations in sweet pepper and pumpkin, with the
application of pig slurry biofertilizer. In contrast, Sediyama et
al. (2009) reported increases in foliar concentrations of N, Ca
and Mg in okra with the use of up to 48 m3 ha-1 of pig slurry
biofertilizer.
Sartor et al. (2012) treated a no-tillage cereal crop for 6 years
with 10 applications of up to 60 m3 of pig slurry ha-1, and found
46
Table 5. Nutrient concentrations in corn leaf tissue as related to the application of pig slurry biofertilizer
NS
- Not significant by F test (p > 0.05); CV - Coefficient of variation
Table 6. Corn grain yield and yield components as related to the application of pig slurry biofertilizer
NS
- Not significant by F test (p > 0.05); CV - Coefficient of variation
Table 7. Nutrient concentrations in the corn kernels as related to the application of pig slurry biofertilizer
NS
that N, P and Zn concentrations in corn leaves increased up to

an estimated rate of about 40 m3 fertilizer ha-1. The authors also
found that K, Ca, Mg, and Cu concentrations in corn leaves
remained unchanged with the application of organic fertilizer.
Pig slurry biofertilizer had no significant (p > 0.05)
effect on corn grain yield and yield components (ear length,
ear diameter, number of kernels per ear and 1.000 grain
weight) (Table 6), because the digester effluent induced no
improvements in soil fertility. The average grain yield in the
experiment (9.656 kg ha-1) was clearly above the center-south
average of Brazil, in the 2013/2014 growing season, for maize
in the main season (6.230 kg ha-1) (CONAB, 2014). Grain
yield was high due to the good soil fertility in the area and the
favorable weather conditions (temperature and precipitation)
during the course of this experiment.
Ceretta et al. (2005), Seidel et al. (2010) and Lourenzi et al.
(2014) reported increases in corn grain yield under pig slurry
application. In these experiments, the maximum grain yields were,
respectively, 15, 10 and 11.6 t ha-1, exceeding the yield of this study.
The different performance in grain yield with organic fertilization
in those experiments, compared to our study, is because pig slurry
biofertilizer has a higher water content and consequently lower
nutrient content compared with liquid swine manure.
Cabral et al. (2011) observed no increase in dry matter
production of elephant grass with application of up to 750 m3
ha-1 of swine wastewater. Freitas et al. (2004) found an increase
in yield of silage corn using swine wastewater in irrigation.
Orrico Jnior et al. (2012) found that the application of pig
slurry biofertilizer at rates of up to 0.57 L pot-1, equivalent to up
to 300 kg N ha-1 linearly increased the dry matter production

of Brachiaria brizantha.
The nutrient concentrations in maize kernels were not
affected either (p > 0.05) by pig slurry biofertilization (Table 7).
Thus, as the properties evaluated were not benefitted, the chief
advantage of applying this effluent consisted in the water reuse.
Conclusions
1. Doses up to 240 m3 ha-1 of pig slurry biofertilizer applied
to soil with good fertility did not influence soil chemical
properties and did not affect corn yield.
2. The use of pig slurry biofertilizer did not affect nutrient
concentrations in corn leaves and kernels.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.4954, 2016

Swine farm wastewater and mineral fertilization in corn cultivation

Pmela A. M. Pereira1, Silvio C. Sampaio1, Ralpho R. dos Reis1, Danielle M. Rosa1 & Marcus M. Correa2
Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paran/Grupo de Pesquisa em Cincias Agro-Ambientais. Cascavel, PR. E-mail: pamelamaldaner@gmail.com;
silvio.sampaio@unioeste.br (Corresponding author); ralpho.reis@unioeste.br; danimrosa@yahoo.com.br
2
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco/Engenharia Ambiental. Recife, PE. E-mail: metri@dtr.ufrpe.br
1
Key words:
fertigation
water reuse
swine waste
ABSTRACT
In the long run, swine wastewater can provide benefits to the soil-plant relationship, when
its use is planned and the potential environmental impacts are monitored. The objective
of this study was to investigate the effects of continuous application of swine wastewater,
associated with mineral fertilization, after six years of management in no-tillage and crop
rotation (14 production cycles), on the chemical conditions of the soil and the corn crop.
The doses of wastewater were 0, 100, 200, 300 m3 ha-1 during the cycle. The effects of the
association between mineral fertilization at sowing and swine wastewater were evaluated
simultaneously. Swine wastewater at the dose of 100 m3 ha-1 promoted availability and
absorption of P, K+, Mg2+ and Zn2+ without causing toxicity to plants or damage to the
soil, constituting a viable, low-cost alternative of water reuse and fertilization for farmers.
The nutrients N, P, K+ and B must be complemented with mineral fertilization. Special
attention should be directed to the accumulation of Zn2+ in the soil along the time of swine
wastewater application.
Palavras-chave:
fertirrigao
reso da gua
dejetos sunos
gua residuria de suinocultura

e adubao mineral no cultivo do milho
RESUMO
Em longo prazo a gua residuria da suinocultura pode oferecer benefcios relao
solo-planta, quando planejado o uso e monitorados possveis impactos ambientais. O
objetivo do trabalho foi investigar os efeitos da aplicao continuada de gua residuria de
suinocultura associada com adubao mineral aps seis anos de manejo em plantio direto
e sucesso de culturas (14 ciclos de produo) acerca das condies qumicas do solo e
da cultura do milho. As doses de gua residuria foram 0, 100, 200, 300 m3 ha-1 durante
o ciclo. Simultaneamente foram avaliados os efeitos da associao de adubao mineral
na semeadura com gua residuria de suinocultura. A gua residuria da suinocultura na
dose de 100 m3 ha-1 proporcionou disponibilidade e absoro de P, K+, Mg2+ e Zn2+ sem
causar toxicidade s plantas ou danos ao solo constituindo viabilidade de reso de gua
e fertilizao alternativa de baixo custo ao produtor. Os nutrientes N, P, K+ e B devem ser
complementados com adubao mineral. Ateno especial deve ser direcionada ao acmulo
de Zn2+ no solo, ao longo do tempo de aplicao de gua residuria da suinocultura.
50
Pmela A. M. Pereira et al.
Introduction
Swine farm wastewater (SFW), although rich in organic
matter, macro and micronutrients (N, P, K+, Ca2+, B, Cu2+, Fe2+,
Zn2+ and others), is also rich in Na+, a non-essential nutrient
to plants. Na+ excess in the soil can hamper water uptake by
roots and be toxic to plants (Munns & Tester, 2008); however,
under adequate planning, SFW is efficient for crop fertigation,
allowing the reduction of the application of commercial
fertilizers (Cabral et al., 2011).
The large amount of SFW daily produced often becomes
excessive, exposing soil and water to contamination if it is not
properly managed. The eutrophication, the contamination by
heavy metals and the residues of antibiotics present in swine
excreta (Cond et al., 2012; Regitano & Leal, 2010) are some
of the impacts resulting from its inadequate management.
Since nutrients are not totally assimilated by plants and,
consequently, can accumulate and leach in high concentrations
along the soil profile, the responses of the soil-plant relationship
to the addition of SFW require long-term monitoring studies.
Many of these studies describe positive (Sampaio et al., 2010;
Maggi et al., 2011; Kessler et al., 2013b; Kessler et al., 2014)
and negative (Doblinski et al., 2010; Sampaio et al., 2010;
Meneghetti et al., 2012; Smanhotto et al., 2013; Tessaro et al.,
2013) influences of SFW reuse on soil and its biota, plants,
leachate and on runoff. Therefore, the challenge in wastewater
management is to develop adequate application protocols,
in order to minimize the polluting power of the activity and
potentiate its efficiency as a liquid fertilizer. Given the above, this
study aimed to investigate the effects of continuous application
of SFW, associated with mineral fertilization, during six years
of uninterrupted cultivation under no-tillage management, on
the chemical conditions of the soil and the corn crop.

The experiment was carried out at the field, in the city of
Cascavel-PR, Brazil (24 48 S; 53 26 W). The soil in the region
is classified as typical distroferric Red Latosol, with clayey
texture (EMBRAPA, 2013). Rainfalls and mean temperatures
during the 2012/2013 agricultural year are shown in Figure 1.
SFW - swine farm wastewater
Figure 1. Observed rainfall and mean monthly temperature

in 2012 at Cascavel, PR
In all the production cycles, SFW doses were applied at once

before sowing, in the doses of 100, 200 and 300 m3 ha-1. The SFW
was collected from the outlet of a stabilization pond from the 1
to the 6 production cycle and from the outlet of the biodigester
from the 7 to the 13 cycle. In the 14 cycle, referring to the
present study, the application of raw SFW started, which was
collected from the channel before the inlet to the biodigester
and the stabilization ponds (Table 1). SFW collections were
performed always in the same farm and in all the production
cycles, minimizing the variations in its characteristics between
the studied years. The swine farm that provided SFW has
approximately 500 sows for piglet production and is equipped
with a biodigester in an integrated system of treatment ponds.
The doses were combined with the presence (P) and the
absence (A) of mineral fertilization (MF) (NPK formulation,
8:20:20). Thus, two factors (SFW and MF) were obtained, with
4 doses of SFW and 2 doses of MF, totaling eight treatments,
defined as: 0-A (environmental control); 0-P (agronomic
control); 100-A; 100-P; 200-A; 200-P; 300-A and 300-P, each
of which evaluated in three replicates.
The production cycles from 2006 to 2012 were: corn
(1), soybean (2), oatmeal (3), soybean (4), oatmeal (5),
baby corn (6), corn (7), oatmeal (8), soybean (9), corn
(10), soybean (11), corn (12), oatmeal (13) and corn
(14). The amounts of nutrients from SFW and MF, applied
in the experimental plots of the current and the previous 13
production cycles, accumulated, were estimated in order to
characterize the history of each experimental plot (Table 2).
Composite soil samples were collected at the end of the
cycle in each experimental plot in the layer of 0-20 cm, using
a Dutch auger. Then, the samples were air-dried and analyzed
for the available contents of total N, Norg, Ninorg, NO3-, NO2-,
NH4+, Mn2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, P (Mehlich 1),
organic matter (OM), aluminum (Al3+), total acidity (H+ + Al3+),
sum of bases (SB), base saturation (V), aluminum saturation
(m), cation exchange capacity (CEC), pH water (1:2.5) and
EC (1:5), according to the methodology of EMBRAPA (2009).
Table 1. Physical-chemical characterization of the swine
farm wastewater* (SFW) applied in corn cultivation (14
production cycle)
*(APHA, 1998): pH - Hydrogen ionic potential; Norg - Organic nitrogen; Ninorg - Inorganic nitrogen;
NH4+: Ammonium; NO3- - Nitrate; NO2- - Nitrite; TOC - Total organic carbon; Na+- Sodium;
Ca2+ - Calcium; Mg2+ - Magnesium; Fe2+- Iron; Mn2+ - Manganese; B - Boron; S - Sulfur; EC
- Electrical conductivity; COD - Chemical oxygen demand; COD Filt - Filtered chemical oxygen
demand; TS - Total solids; SF - Fixed solids; SV - Volatile solids; TDS - Total dissolved solids;
FDS - Fixed dissolved solids; VDS - Volatile dissolved solids; SAR - Sodium adsorption ratio

Table 2. Nutrients applied to the soil through swine farm
wastewater (SFW) and mineral fertilization (MF) during
the 14 production cycle and the total applied in the
previous cycles
N Available; *Sum; N - Nitrogen; P - Phosphorus; K+ - Potassium; Cu2+ - Copper; Zn2+ - Zinc;

A - Environmental control; P - Agronomic control
#
Leaf sampling and analysis for macro and micronutrients

were performed according to the methodology described by
Malavolta et al. (1997).
The experiment was set in a randomized block design,
in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme with three replicates, totaling 24
experimental plots, each one with area of 1.60m2, three rows
and spacing of 0.40 x 0.50 m. The data were initially subjected to
Shapiro-Wilk normality test and data transformation ((x+1)),
51
when necessary, and then subjected to analysis of variance and

Tukey test at 0.05 probability level.

The content of Ninorg in the soil after corn cultivation was
lower for the treatment 200 P in comparison to the others,
since it was more absorbed by corn plants, as observed in
Table 3, which shows that the highest contents of absorbed N
occurred for the presence (P) of mineral fertilization (MF). The
inorganic form of N occurs in the soil as the form assimilable
by plants. The low supply of this nutrient is considered as one
of the factors that limit crop yield (Kappes et al., 2009).
The follow-up analysis of the interaction for P shows that
the absence and the presence of MF in the different treatments
promoted increase of this nutrient directly to the SFW doses,
except for the dose 200 P. Phosphorus is an important factor in
plant nutrition, but its availability is low due to the mechanism
of retention that acts under the presence of Fe2+ and Al3+ oxides,
as occurs in Latosols, in which the contents of Fe2+ oxides is
very high, due to the type of the soil. P retention occurs when
the adsorption sites are saturated with the phosphate ion
in high-energy bonds. However, the maximum adsorption
capacity of P causes more phosphate ions to be adsorbed with
lower binding energy, which are more easily released to the soil
solution (Santos et al., 2008). According to CQFSRS/SC (2004),
the content of P is equivalent to the maximum crop yield (6
to 12 mg dm3) in the treatments 200 P and 300 A. It should be
pointed out that the Brazilian legislation does not recognize
P as a chemical contaminant of the soil, but its excess poses
Table 3. Analysis of variance and means comparison test for soil chemical parameters (14 production cycle)
F value; *Significant at 0.05 by Tukey test; Means followed by the same letters in the column do not differ statistically; # Means followed by the same lowercase letters in the row do not
differ for the follow-up analysis of SFW inside MF and means followed by the same uppercase letters in the column do not differ for the follow-up analysis of MF inside SFW; SD Standard
deviation; Transformed data ((x+1)): Mn2+, Zn2+, NH4+, NO3- + NO2-, pH, EC, CEC, V, m, Al3+, H+ + Al3+, Ninorg, Ca2+, Cu2+ and P; ESP Exchangeable sodium percentage; V, m and ESP
expressed in percentage (%); EC expressed in dS m-1; Al3+, H++Al3+, SB, CEC, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+ expressed in mmolc dm-3; total N, NH4+, NO3- + NO2-, organic N, inorganic N, P, S,
Cu2+, Mn, B, Fe2+ and Zn2+ expressed in mg dm-3; OM expressed in g dm-3; A - Environmental control; P - Agronomic control
52
risks of eutrophication of water bodies (Lourenzi et al., 2013),

as observed in the treatments 100 P and 300 P, which reached
levels higher than the recommended ones.
In the absence of MF, the addition of SFW doses contributed
to the increase of K+ in the soil in all the evaluated treatments.
In the presence of MF, K + contents also increased in the
treatments with 0, 100 and 200 m ha- of SFW, decreasing in
the treatment with the addition of 300 m ha- of SFW, which
may have occurred in response to the competitive inhibition
caused by Ca2+ and Mg2+ at this dose, added to the soil by the
SFW. The content of K+ in the soil is classified as medium (limit
between 1.6 and 3.0 mmolc dm3) for the treatments 100 P, 200
P, 300 A and 300 P, according to the agronomic threshold
described by Raij (2011), indicating that SFW used in isolation
is sufficient to replenish this nutrient to the soil. In excess,
K+ can result in competition with Ca2+ and Mg2+, and cause
deficiency to plants (Malavolta et al., 1997). Doblinski et al.
(2010) and Kessler et al. (2013b), in experiments using SFW
in soybean and oatmeal, respectively, also observed increase
of K+ in the soil.
According to the statistical analysis, the contents of
Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the presence of MF did not differ between
treatments. However, these contents decreased in the absence
of MF, unlike K+ data, justifying the competitive inhibition
between Ca2+/Mg2+ and K+. The presence of MF in the treatment
300 P resulted in the increase of these nutrients in the soil. The
contents of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the soil are considered as high,
above 7 mmolc dm3 and 8 mmolc dm3, respectively, according
to Raij (2011). Despite the expressive contents of K+, Ca2+ and
Mg2+, the ESP was lower than 7%, which characterizes this soil
as normal (Queiroz et al., 2010).
The metals Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ , present in swine diet as
growth promoters, are found in significant concentrations
in the manure and are directly transferred to the soil during
fertigation, as observed in the behavior of Zn 2+, which
increased with the SFW doses. Cu2+ contents decreased in
the treatments with absence of MF. In the presence of MF, the
opposite occurred and the treatments 100 P, 200 P and 300 P
were statistically equal. Cu2+ behavior in the presence of MF can
be explained by the adsorption induced by the P present in the
MF (Lucas, 2011). In addition, these elements may have been
adsorbed due to the presence of iron oxides and OM, and to the
pH reduction, factors that directly hamper its bioavailability
and mobility in the system (Mellis et al., 2004). High Cu2+
contents can cause phytotoxic effects (Sodr et al., 2014) and
contaminate surface waters when transported through the
sediments (Girotto et al., 2010). According to CQFSRS/SC

(2004), the contents of Zn2+ and Cu2+ in the soil are considered
as adequate for annual crops (> 0.5 mg dm3 and > 0.4 mg dm3,
respectively). However, the accumulation of Zn2+ in the soil
over the years not only can cause plant toxicity, but also change
it from micronutrient to an environmental contaminant if it
reaches 450 mg kg-1 (CONAMA, 2009).
The values of N, Norg, NO3- + NO2-, NH4+, Mn2+, Fe2+, Al3+,
H++Al3+, SB, V, m, CEC, pH and EC did not show significant
differences between the treatments composed of the factors
SFW and MF.
The behavior of leaf N was influenced by the presence of
MF (Table 4), and corn requirements (27 35 g kg-1) during
its development (Malavolta et al., 1997) were only met in the
treatment of 300 m3 ha-1.
The supply of P from the addition of SFW and,
simultaneously, the presence of MF, was sufficient to provide
plants with at least 2 g kg-1. Likewise, K+ contents increased with
the SFW doses in the presence of MF, since the treatments 100,
200 and 300 m3 ha-1 were similar according to the statistical test,
evidencing the minimum content required by the crop, which
varies from 17 to 35 g kg-1 (Raij, 2011). In a similar experiment,
Kessler et al. (2014) also observed significant values of P and
K+ in corn leaf diagnosis.
Mg2+ plays an important role in crop development and
contributes to biochemical activities and photosynthesis. The
decrease in Mg2+ can be due to the competition with Ca2+
for the same exchange sites, in the absorption by the roots
(Salvador et al., 2011). Another possibility is that Mg2+ may
have been assimilated in lower proportion by plants, because
of the higher K+ absorption, which can reduce the absorption
of other nutrients when assimilated in high concentrations. In
all the treatments supplied by SFW, Mg2+ contents are within
the minimum limit required by corn plants, in the range of
1.5-5 g kg-1 (Raij, 2011), and are consistent with the results
obtained by Kessler et al. (2013a) in the cultivation of soybean
with SFW and MF.
The contents of Zn2+ assimilated by corn showed significant
increase as a function of the SFW doses. Mn2+ contents were
stimulated by the presence of MF. According to Raij (2011), in
all the evaluated treatments, the contents of these micronutrients
met the requirements of the crop during its development (20
200 mg kg-1 and 15 100 mg kg-1, respectively).
Although SFW increases the accumulation of B in the
leaves, its contents were insufficient for growth and production
only in the treatment with addition of 100 m3 ha-1. Contents
Table 4. Leaf analysis of corn subjected to the application of swine farm wastewater (SFW) and mineral fertilization (MF)
Means followed by the same letters in the column do not differ statistically; Transformed data ((x+1)): K+, Mg2+, Fe2+ and Cu2+; Macronutrients expressed in g kg-1 and micronutrients
in mg kg-1; A - Environmental control; P - Agronomic control; F value.

considered as adequate are within the range of 10 25 mg kg-1.
Considered as an essential micronutrient, its deficiency can
cause plant tillering, sharp decrease in size and bud dormancy
breaking (Ferreira, 2012).
The leaf contents of Ca2+, S, Cu2+ and Fe2+ did not differ
between the treatments composed of the factors SFW and MF.
According to the data, the application of 100 m3 ha-1 of SFW
is adequate, because it promoted minimum absorption of the
main nutrients required during corn development, without
causing toxicity to plants or negative impacts on the soil. The
nutrients N, P, K+ and B must be complemented with specific
fertilization.
Conclusions
1. After six years of successive applications in no-tillage
system, swine farm wastewater showed good results with
respect to the supply of P, K+ and Ca2+ in the soil and P, K+,
Mg2+ and Zn2+ in the plant.
2. The dose of 100 m3 ha-1 of swine farm wastewater was
considered as adequate for the supply of the nutrients P, K+,
Mg2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+, required by corn during its development
and production.
3. Swine farm wastewater proved to be a promising, lowcost alternative for soil fertilization, but it can increase Zn2+
contents in the soil to toxic levels.
4. Complementary fertilization must be adopted for the
supply of N, P, K+ and B.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.5561, 2016

Cultivation of cherry tomato under irrigation

with saline water and nitrogen fertilization
Ianne G. S. Vieira1, Reginaldo G. Nobre2, Adaan S. Dias3 & Francisco W. A. Pinheiro2
1
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande/Centro de Cincias e Tecnologia Agroalimentar/Programa de Ps-Graduao em Horticultura Tropical.
Pombal, PB. E-mail: iannegoncalves@hotmail.com (Corresponding author)
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande/Centro de Cincias e Tecnologia Agroalimentar/Unidade Acadmica de Cincias Agrrias. Pombal, PB.
E-mail: rgomesnobre@pq.cnpq.br; wesley.ce@hotmail.com
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande/Centro de Tecnologia e Recursos Naturais/Programa de Ps-Graduao em Engenharia Agrcola.
Campina Grande, PB. E-mail: sudario_dias@hotmail.com
Key words:
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
salt stress
mineral nutrition
growth
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out from August 2013 to January 2014 to evaluate growth and
production of cherry tomato cultivated under irrigation with water of different salinity
levels and fertilized with different nitrogen (N) doses, in experiment conducted in drainage
lysimeters under greenhouse conditions, at the Center for Agrifood Science and Technology
of the Federal University of Campina Grande. The statistical design was randomized blocks
in a 5 x 4 factorial scheme, with three replicates, and the treatments consisted of five levels
of electrical conductivity of water (0.3, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 dS m-1) and four N doses (60,
100, 140 and 180 mg kg-1). Growth and production variables of cherry tomato decrease
linearly from the irrigation water salinity of 0.3 dS m-1 on. The longer exposure of plants to
salt stress caused the highest reductions, and the root dry matter, leaf area and the number
of clusters are the most sensitive variables. The highest value of plant height at 125 days
after transplantation was obtained with the N dose of 139 mg kg-1 of soil. Increasing N doses
reduced the effect of salinity on cherry tomato growth at 125 days after transplantation.
Palavras-chave:
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
estresse salino
nutrio mineral
crescimento
Cultivo do tomateiro cereja sob irrigao

com guas salinas e adubao nitrogenada
RESUMO
Este trabalho foi desenvolvido entre agosto de 2013 e janeiro de 2014 objetivando avaliar o
crescimento e a produo do tomateiro cereja cultivado sob irrigao com guas salinas e
adubado com distintas doses de nitrognio em ensaio conduzido em lismetros de drenagem
sob condies de casa de vegetao da UFCG, Pombal-PB. O delineamento estatstico
utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, em arranjo fatorial 5 x 4, com trs repeties cujos
tratamentos constaram de cinco nveis de condutividade eltrica da gua (0,3; 1,5; 2,5; 3,5
e 4,5 dS m-1) e quatro doses de N (60, 100, 140 e 180 mg kg-1). As variveis de crescimento e
produo do tomateiro cereja decrescem de forma linear a partir da salinidade da gua de
irrigao 0,3 dS m-1; o maior tempo de exposio das plantas ao estresse salino ocasionou as
maiores redues sendo a massa das razes, a rea foliar e o nmero de cachos as variveis
mais sensveis; a maior altura de planta aos 125 dias aps o transplantio foi obtida com dose
de N de 139 mg kg-1 de solo; doses crescentes de nitrognio reduziram o efeito da salinidade
sobre o crescimento do tomateiro cereja, aos 125 dias aps o transplantio.
56
Ianne G. S. Vieira et al.
Introduction
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), originated in South
America, is cultivated in almost the entire world and its global
production has doubled in the last twenty years. One of the
main factors for the expansion of this crop is the increase in
its consumption. From 1985 to 2005, the global production
increased from 14 to 19 kg person-1 year-1, and it is one of the
most cultivated vegetables in Brazil (Prado et al., 2011).
Sustainable agricultural exploitation in arid and semi-arid
regions depends, due to the climatic instability, among other
practices, on the use of irrigation. However, because of the
anthropic pressure for good-quality waters and the increasing
need for expansion of agricultural production worldwide, the
use of waters considered as of low quality has increased (Nobre
et al., 2011).
The use of low-quality water in arid and semi-arid regions
has generated various environmental problems, such as soil
salinization, because their water sources normally have high
contents of salts (Rhoades et al., 1992). For Leite et al. (2007),
the use of saline water in agricultural exploitation is susceptible
to the tolerance of crops to salinity and to management
practices of irrigation and fertilization, which must avoid as
much as possible the impacts on the environment and the
consequent damages to crops and to the soil.
Under conditions of saline stress and/or water deficit, crops
are known to suffer various physiological disorders that lead
to growth reduction and, as a consequence, yield reduction.
As to the tomato crop, Ayers & Westcot (1991) consider it as
moderately sensitive to the effects of salts, with reductions in
its potential yield for levels of water electrical conductivity
above 1.7 dS m-1. On the other hand, Rhoades et al. (1992)
cite 2.5 dS m-1 as the salinity threshold for tomato plants, with
relative yield decreases of 9% per unit increase in the electrical
conductivity of the saturation extract.
The nutritional supply through fertilization management
stands out among the main technologies applied to increase
crop growth and profitability, and nitrogen (N) is one of the
main macronutrients responsible for this increase, since it
performs structural functions, participating in many organic
compounds that are vital for plants (Flores et al., 2002). In this
context, many studies have reported that the accumulation
of these organic solutes increases plant capacity for osmotic
adjustment to salinity (Silva et al., 2008).
Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of
irrigation with saline water and fertilization with N doses on
the cultivation of cherry tomatoes.

The study was carried out from August 2013 to January
2014 using drainage lysimeters under greenhouse conditions,
in the experimental area of the Center of Agrifood Science

and Technology (CCTA) of the Federal University of Campina
Grande (UFCG), in Pombal-PB, Brazil (6 48 16 S; 37 49
15 W; 144 m).
The experimental design was completely randomized
blocks, in a 5 x 4 factorial scheme, with three replicates, and the
treatments consisted of the combination between five levels of
electrical conductivity in the irrigation water ECw (S1 0.3;
S2 1.5; S3 2.5; S4 3.5 and S5 4.5 dS m-1) and four doses
of N fertilization [(N1 - 60, N2 - 100, N3 -140 and N4 -180% of
the recommendation of N fertilization (100 mg kg-1)] for pot
experiments, according to Novais et al. (1991), corresponding
to 8.88 g of urea and 33.34 g of monoammonium phosphate
per pot. For a better control of the studied treatments,
drainage lysimeters (plastic pots) were used to monitor water
consumption.
The seeds of cherry tomato, variety 261, were obtained
in the market and the plants have a cycle of 90 days and are
highly resistant to pests and diseases (ISLA Sementes, 2013).
The fruit has a globular shape, diameter of 3 to 4 cm and weight
of approximately 20 g, ideal for the consumption in salads.
Sowing was performed in plastic trays with 200 cells, by
planting two seeds per cell. At 45 days after sowing (DAS),
the seedlings were transplanted to 20-L plastic lysimeters,
perforated at the bottom to allow drainage, in order to estimate
water consumption by the crop. For this, a hose with diameter
of 8 mm was connected to the base of the pots and to a 2-L
recipient, for the monitoring of the drained volume.
The lysimeters were filled with 0.8 kg of clod-free soil
material, mixed with the respective N doses, according to
the treatments. The soil material came from a non-saline,
non-sodic, eutrophic Regolithic Neosol with sandy loam
texture (EMBRAPA, 2013), collected in the layer of 0-30
cm. Soil physical and chemical characteristics (Table 1) were
determined according to methodologies recommended by
Claessen (1997).
Basal fertilization was performed in each lysimeter by
applying phosphorus and potassium, according to the soil
chemical analysis and based on plant nutritional requirements
for pot conditions. Additionally, 2% of aged cattle manure (6.3
g of N kg-1; 1.28 g of P kg-1 and 0.53 g of K kg-1) was applied
in each pot, in order to improve soil physical, chemical and
biological properties, and increase its water holding capacity
and infiltration. With the addition of cattle manure, each
treatment received 126 mg kg-1 of N in the soil (360 x 6.3/18),
which results in the following treatments of N addition: 186,
226, 266 and 306 mg kg-1 of soil, considering an efficiency index
of 1.0 in the first cultivation. Considering an efficiency index
of 0.50 for the first cultivation (CQFSRS/SC, 2004), the doses
become: 123, 163, 203 and 243 mg of N kg-1 of soil. After filling
the lysimeters, the soil was brought to field capacity through
Table 1. Physical and chemical characteristics of the soil used in the experiment
Ca2+ and Mg2+ extracted with 1 mol L-1 KCl at pH 7.0; Na+ and K+ extracted using 1 mol L-1 NH4OAc at pH 7.0; pHSP pH in the saturated paste; EC SE Electrical conductivity of the
saturation extract
Cultivation of cherry tomato under irrigation with saline water and nitrogen fertilization
the method of capillary saturation, followed by free drainage,
using the waters with different saline levels.
Phosphorus was applied all at once in the basal fertilization
and potassium was applied in three periods ( as basal
fertilization and divided into three top-dressing applications),
in 4-cm deep holes, 8 cm distant from plant stem.
From sowing to 45 DAS, irrigation was daily performed
in each cell, from 7 to 17 h, using water from the local supply
system; after transplantation, irrigations were performed
according to the treatments. The soil was kept at field capacity
and the applied water depth was measured through the water
balance in the root zone, by subtracting the volume drained in
the previous irrigation from the applied volume, thus obtaining
the consumed volume, and adding a leaching fraction of 0.10.
Tomato growth was evaluated at 54 and 125 days after
transplantation (DAT) through the determination of the
number of leaves (NL), plant height (PH), stem diameter (SD)
and leaf area (LA). Dry matters of stem (SDM), leaves (LDM)
and roots (RDM) were determined at 125 DAT at the end of
the experiment. The number of clusters (NC) was evaluated
at 104 DAT.
In the quantification of NL, only leaves with at least 50%
of photosynthetically active area and minimum length of 3
cm were considered. PH (cm) was obtained by measuring the
distance from the base to the apical meristem of the plants.
SD (mm) was determined at 5 cm from plant base using a
digital caliper, and LA (cm2) was obtained according to the
methodology of Reis et al. (2013), as LA = L * W * f; where L
is the length (cm) and W is the width (cm) of all the leaves
from the marked plants and f is the shape factor, which was
equal to 0.59. The length was defined as the distance from the
petiole insertion in the leaf blade to the opposite leaf tip, while
width was defined as the longest dimension perpendicular to
the length axis.
For the determination of stem, leaf and root dry matters,
the material was placed in paper bags, dried in an oven at 60 C
until constant weight and then weighed. The number of clusters
was manually counted considering only the ones with flowers.
The obtained data were evaluated through analysis of
variance by F test at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels for the
factors water salinity and N doses. When significant, linear
and quadratic polynomial regressions were performed using
the statistical program SISVAR-ESAL (Ferreira, 2003).
57

Based on the analysis of variance (Table 2), there was
significant influence of the levels of irrigation water salinity
(S) on all the studied variables, except for stem diameter (SD),
for which no significant effect was observed at 54 DAT. As to
the factor N doses, there was significant effect only for plant
height (PH) and leaf area (LA) at 125 DAT; on the other hand,
the interaction between the factors (S x N) had significant effect
only on LA, at 125 DAT.
The NL of cherry tomato decreased linearly with the
increase in irrigation water salinity and, according to the
regression analysis (Figure 1A), there were NL reductions of
Figure 1. Number of leaves (NL) (A) and stem diameter

(SD) (B) of cherry tomato as a function of the electrical
conductivity of the irrigation water (ECw), at 54 and 125
days after transplantation (DAT)
Table 2. Summary of the analysis of variance for number of leaves (NL), stem diameter (SD), plant height (PH) and leaf
area (LA) of cherry tomato under different levels of irrigation water salinity and nitrogen (N) doses at 54 and 125 days
after transplantation (DAT)
ns, **, *Respectively, not significant and significant by F test at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05; 1Statistical analysis performed after data transformation to x
58
7.41 and 16.25%, respectively, at 54 and 125 DAT, per unit

increase in ECw. This led to NL reductions of 31.12 and 68.24%
in plants irrigated with water of 4.5 dS m-1, compared with those
under ECw of 0.3 dS m-1. Leithya et al. (2009), studying the
initial growth of tomato under different levels of water salinity
and cattle biofertilizer application, observed high number of
leaves in geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.), but it decreased
with the increase in salinity.
The increase in irrigation water salinity affected the SD of
cherry tomato plants (Figure 1B), promoting a linear decrease
of 4.80% per unit increase in ECw at 125 DAT, i.e., a reduction
of approximately 3.06 mm in SD of plants irrigated with water
of 4.5 dS m-1 in comparison to those under ECw of 0.3 dS
m-1. According to Munns & Tester (2008), the inhibition of
growth in plants under saline stress, as observed for SD, can
be explained by the decrease in the osmotic potential of the
soil solution, besides the possibility of occurrence of ionic
toxicity, nutritional imbalance or both, due to the excessive
accumulation of certain ions in plant tissues.
Lima et al. (2015), studying eggplant, and Lima et al. (2008)
and Silva et al. (2008), studying castor bean, also observed that
the increase in irrigation water salinity promoted reduction
not only in stem diameter, but also in most of the growth
variables, preventing plants from having conditions to develop
satisfactorily.
PH decreased linearly in all growth evaluations along the
crop cycle as a function of the increase in irrigation water
salinity and, according to the regression equations (Figure 2A),
there were decreases in PH of 3.59 and 6.41%, respectively, at 54
and 125 DAT, per unit increase in ECw, i.e., reductions of 15.07
and 26.91% in the height of plants irrigated with water of 4.5
dS m-1, compared to those under ECw of 0.3 dS m-1. According
to Gulzar et al. (2003), the stress caused by the excess of ions,
in general, reduces CO2 assimilation, stomatal conductance,
transpiration and photosynthesis and, consequently, tends to
hamper plant development.
The increase in N doses promoted significant effects (p
< 0.05) on PH of cherry tomato at 125 DAT and, according
to the regression equation (Figure 2B), the data fitted best to
a quadratic model, where the highest PH value (147.3 cm)
was obtained with the application of 139% of N. In other
words, N promoted positive effects on plants due to its role
in the metabolism, because it participates in the chlorophyll
molecule, nucleic acids and proteins, besides being an activator
of many enzymes (Malavolta, 2006).
Oliveira et al. (2007), evaluating saline water irrigation
on different production characteristics of tomato, observed
decrease in plant height of 4.76 cm per unit increase in ECw,
with reduction percentages of 18, 22, 26, 40 and 78% for
the salinity levels of 5.7, 6.8, 8.3, 12.7 and 24.5 dS m-1 in the
irrigation water, significantly reducing this variable during all
the crop cycle. On the other hand, in a study with increasing N
doses and different saline levels, Badr & Talaab (2008) observed
increment in growth of tomato plants with the increase in N
doses, even under moderate salinity conditions.
The leaf area of cherry tomato decreased linearly with
the increase in irrigation water salinity and, according to
the regression equations (Figure 3A), there was a reduction
Figure 2. Plant height (PH) of cherry tomato as a function

of the electrical conductivity of the irrigation water (ECw)
at 54 and 125 days after transplantation (DAT) (A) and as
a function of nitrogen (N) doses at 125 DAT (B)
of 9.21% at 54 DAT per unit increase in ECw, resulting in a
decrease of approximately 1642.66 cm2 in the PH of plants
irrigated with water of 4.5 dS m-1, in comparison to plants
cultivated under low salinity (0.3 dS m-1). The leaf area of
plants cultivated under saline conditions is one of the most
affected variables and its decrease is possibly related to the
reduction in water availability and absorption, which affects
cell division and elongation (Tester & Davenport, 2003). Silva
(2011), studying the increment in irrigation water salinity (0.5
to 6.0 dS m-1) on okra plants, also observed that the increase
in ECw caused a decrease in plant leaf area.
According to the regression equations for LA at 125 DAT
(Figure 3B), plants under fertilization with doses of 60, 100,
140 and 180 mg N kg-1 of soil suffered linear decreases of
approximately 15.75, 16.47, 16.58 and 17.82% per unit increase
in ECw, corresponding to reductions of about 7211.17, 8585.33,
12171.66 and 16063.33 cm2 in the LA of plants irrigated with
water of 4.5 dS m-1, compared with those under ECw of 0.3 dS
m-1. The excess of salts in the root zone had negative effects
on plant growth, because of the higher osmotic effect outside
the roots and restriction in the water flow from the soil to the
plants, which is necessary for survival and production under
saline stress conditions (Silva et al., 2008).
According to Table 3, the saline levels of the irrigation
water promoted significant effect (p < 0.01) on the dry matter
of leaves, stem and roots at 125 DAT, and on the number of
clusters of cherry tomato at 104 DAT. As to N doses, there was
significant effect (p < 0.05) only on SDM at 125 DAT. For the
Figure 3. Leaf area (LA) of cherry tomato as a function of

the electrical conductivity of the irrigation water (ECw) at
54 days after transplantation (DAT) (A) and as a function of
the interaction between the factors irrigation water salinity
and nitrogen (N) doses at 125 DAT (B)
Table 3. Summary of the analysis of variance for stem dry
matter (SDM), leaf dry matter (LDM) and root dry matter
(RDM) at 125 days after transplantation (DAT) and number
of clusters (NC) in cherry tomato under different levels of
irrigation water salinity and nitrogen (N) doses at 104 DAT
ns, **, *Respectively, not significant and significant by F test at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05;
1
Statistical analysis performed after data transformation to x
interaction between factors (S x N), there was significant effect

for LDM (p < 0.05) and SDM (p < 0.05) at 125 DAT.
At 125 DAT (Figure 4A), there was significant effect of the
interaction between factors (S x N) on LDM and, according
to the regression equations, cherry tomato plants, when
subjected to fertilization with N doses of 60, 100, 140 and 180
mg kg-1 of soil, showed decreases of 12.28, 12.96, 14.80 and
13.90% per unit increase in ECw, i.e., there were reductions
of approximately 51.57, 54.43, 62.18 and 58.37% in the LDM
of plants irrigated with water of 4.5 dS m-1, in comparison to
those under ECw of 0.3 dS m-1.
59
Figure 4. Leaf dry matter (LDM) (A) and stem dry matter
(SDM) (B) of cherry tomato as a function of the interaction
between the factors irrigation water salinity (ECw) and
nitrogen (N) doses at 125 days after transplantation (DAT)
Similarly, Medeiros et al. (2011), studying cherry tomato
subjected to fertilization based on different cattle manure
biofertilizers (with and without the addition of molasses,
milk and agricultural gypsum) and irrigated with saline water,
observed that there was positive effect of biofertilizers on shoot
dry matter with the increase in irrigation water salinity, but
with superiority for the enriched biofertilizer.
In the evaluation of SDM at 125 DAT (Figure 4B), there
was significant effect of the interaction between factors (S x
N) and, according to the regression equations, plants under
fertilization with N doses of 60, 100, 140 and 180 mg kg-1 of soil
suffered linear decreases of 18.43, 18.41, 19.92 and 19.83% per
unit increase in ECw, i.e., reductions of 77.41, 77.33, 83.67 and
83.27% in the SDM of plants irrigated with water of 4.5 dS m-1
in comparison to those under ECw of 0.3 dS m-1. According to
the results for LDM and SDM, the increment in ECw increased
soil salinity and reduced the osmotic potential (Garcia et al.,
2010), thus increasing the resistance to water absorption by
plants and, consequently, leading to the reduction in phytomass
production.
Pessarakll & Tucker (1988) also observed reduction in
dry matter production in cherry tomato with the increase in
irrigation water salinity, indicating the sensitivity of the crop
to saline stress.
RDM of cherry tomato plants decreased with the increase
in ECw and, according to the regression equations (Figure 5A),
the data fitted best to a quadratic model, with the highest RDM
(69.4 g) obtained in plants irrigated with water of 0.3 dS m-1,
i.e., there was a RDM reduction of 90.5% in plants irrigated
60

the number of clusters of cherry tomato decreased from the
irrigation water salinity of 0.3 dS m-1 on.
2. The longer exposure of plants to saline stress promoted
the highest reductions in growth and production variables,
and root dry matter, leaf area and the number of clusters per
plant are the most sensitive variables.
3. The highest value of plant height at 125 days after
transplantation was obtained with the N dose of 139 mg kg-1
of soil.
4. Nitrogen fertilization reduces the effect of salinity on leaf
area, leaf dry matter and stem dry matter of cherry tomato at
125 days after transplantation.
Literature Cited
Figure 5. Root dry matter (RDM) at 125 days after

transplantation (DAT) (A) and number of clusters (NC) at
104 DAT (B) of cherry tomato as a function of the electrical
conductivity of the irrigation water (ECw)
with water of 4.5 dS m-1 compared with plants under ECw of
0.3 dS m-1.
The saline stress caused changes in root growth and
development, thus interfering with water and ion absorption
by plants and hampering crop development, since a welldeveloped root system can promote better conditions to meet
plant requirements for water and nutrients, especially in the
first weeks, when adverse conditions can compromise its
survival (Soares et al., 2011).
The NC of cherry tomato decreased linearly with the
increase in irrigation water salinity and, according to the
regression equations (Figure 5B), there was a decrease in NC
of 16.36% at 104 DAT per unit increase in ECw, i.e., a reduction
of 76.7 clusters in plants irrigated with water of 4.5 dS m-1
compared with plants under ECw of 0.3 dS m-1. Different results
were reported by Blanco & Folegatti (2008), in evaluations at
52 and 76 days after sowing, with tomato plants irrigated using
saline water. On the other hand, Freire et al. (2010), studying
the effect of irrigation with water of different ECw levels on
tomato cultivars in a protected environment, observed a
production decrease of 10% for the cultivar Santa Adlia and
6.8% for the cultivar Meia Estaca, when plants under ECw of
6.0 dS m-1 were compared with those under ECw of 0.4 dS m-1
along the crop cycle.
Conclusions
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.6266, 2016

Beet cultivation with saline effluent from fish farming

Welson L. Simes1, Jony E. Yuri1, Miguel J. M. Guimares2, Jos E. dos Santos3 & Emanoel F. J. Arajo3
Embrapa Semirido. Petrolina, PE. E-mail: welson.simoes@embrapa.br (Corresponding author); jony.yuri@embrapa.br
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco/Departamento de Engenharia Agrcola. Recife, PE. E-mail: mjmguimaraes@hotmail.com
3
Universidade de Pernambuco. Petrolina, PE. E-mail: josezequiel95@gmail.com; emanoelfernando_ja@hotmail.com
1
2
Key words:
salinity
salt distribution
leaching fraction
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of salts along the soil profile, the biometric
parameters and the yield of beet cultivars under different leaching fractions using saline
effluent from fish farming, under the conditions of the Sub-middle So Francisco Valley. An
experiment was conducted at the Caatinga Experimental Field of the Embrapa Semi-Arid, in
2013. The treatments were arranged in split plots composed of four leaching fractions (0, 5, 10
and 15%) in the plots, with saline effluent from fish farming, and three table beet cultivars in
the subplots: Scarlet Super, Early Wonder 200 and Fortuna. The analysed parameters were: salt
distribution along the soil profile, number of leaves, length and width of leaves and petioles,
total and commercial yields. The application of leaching fractions of 10 and 15% promoted
better salt distribution along the soil profile. The beet cultivar Fortuna showed the highest
commercial yield for a lower leaching fraction.
Palavras-chave:
salinidade
distribuio de sais
frao de lixiviao
Cultivo de beterraba com efluente salino da piscicultura

RESUMO
Realizou-se este trabalho com o objetivo de avaliar a distribuio de sais no perfil do solo, os
parmetros biomtricos e a produtividade de cultivares de beterraba submetidas a diferentes
fraes de lixiviao com efluente salino da piscicultura nas condies do Submdio do
Vale do So Francisco. Foi conduzido um experimento no Campo Experimental Caatinga
pertencente Embrapa Semirido no ano de 2013. Os tratamentos foram dispostos em
parcelas subdivididas compostas por quatro fraes de lixiviao: 0; 5; 10 e 15%, de efluente
salino da piscicultura e as subparcelas por trs cultivares de beterraba de mesa: Scarlet Super,
Early Wonder 200 e Fortuna. Foram avaliados os parmetros: distribuio dos sais no perfil
do solo, nmero de folhas, comprimento e largura das folhas e do talo, produtividade total e
comercial. A utilizao de fraes de lixiviao de 10 e 15% proporcionou uma distribuio
melhor dos sais no perfil do solo. A cultivar de beterraba Fortuna foi a que apresentou maior
produtividade comercial para uma frao menor de lixiviao.
Introduction
For promoting multiple use of waters, the agricultureaquaculture integration can be a sustainable strategy for the
utilization of water resources, as in the employment of saline
water from fish farm effluent for the production of crops
moderately tolerant to salinity, in areas where the availability
of good-quality water for irrigation is limited.
Many studies have been developed with vegetable
(Castellani et al., 2009) and forage crops (Carvalho Jnior et al.,
2010; Gurgel et al., 2012) and saline water, in which the correct
irrigation management is one of the fundamental parameters
for the sustainability of the cultivation, since the increase in salt
contents in the soil solution can reduce its osmotic potential
and decrease water availability, intensifying the toxicity of
certain ions to plants (Silva, 2014).
In this context, the beet crop (Beta vulgaris L.) presents
itself as an alternative for the production under saline
conditions, because it is considered as one of the salt-tolerant
vegetable crops (Dias & Blanco, 2010; Silva et al., 2013b). In
addition, it stands out for the nutritional quality, especially due
to the presence of sugars and betalains, which are important
substances in the diet for having nutraceutical properties
(Marques et al., 2010; Zabotti & Genena, 2013).
Given the above, this study aimed to evaluate the
distribution of salts along the soil profile, the biometric
parameters and the yield of beet cultivars subjected to different
leaching fractions with saline effluent from fish farming, under
the conditions of the Sub-middle So Francisco Valley.

The experiment was carried out at the Caatinga
Experimental Field, which belongs to the Embrapa Semiarid, in Petrolina-PE, Brazil, in the Sub-middle region of the
So Francisco Valley (9 8 8.9 S; 40 18 33.6 W; 373 m),
from April to August 2013. The soil in the experimental area
was classified as Red Yellow Argisol (EMBRAPA, 2006) with
medium texture, located on a flat relief. The climate in the
region is classified as semi-arid, BSwh, with the following mean
annual values of the climatological variables: air temperature
= 26.5 C, rainfall = 541.1 mm, relative air humidity = 65.9%,
Class-A pan evaporation = 2,500 mm year-1 and wind speed = 2.3
m s-1. Rainfalls are irregularly distributed in space and time,
concentrating from April to December; the annual insolation
is higher than 3,000 h (Azevedo et al., 2006).
63
During the experiment, the mean relative air humidity was

69.6% and the temperature was around 24.7 C. The maximum
daily evapotranspiration was 6.97 mm, with mean of 5.35
mm. Rainfall events totalized 32.7 mm during the cycle. The
electrical conductivity (EC) of the irrigation water, from fish
farm effluent, showed stable behavior, with mean of 2.5 dS m-1.
A randomized block design was adopted, with four blocks,
in split plots composed of four leaching fractions (LF): 0, 5, 10
and 15% of saline effluent from fish farming, in the plots, and
three table beet cultivars in the subplot: Scarlet Super, Early
Wonder 200 and Fortuna. Each experimental unit (subplot)
consisted of two double rows with length of 1.5 m and width
of 1.0 m. The following spacings were adopted: 0.2 between
rows, 0.1 m between plants and 0.4 m between double rows,
totaling 40 plants m-2.
The experimental area was prepared according to crop
needs, with plowing, harrowing and the construction of ridges.
Basal fertilization was based on the previously performed soil
analysis (Table 1), with the application of 40 kg ha-1 of nitrogen,
180 kg ha-1 of phosphorus and 30 kg ha-1 of potassium. Topdressing fertilizations were performed at 25 days after planting
(DAP), using 20 kg ha-1 of nitrogen as urea and 30 kg ha-1 of
potassium as potassium chloride; at 45 DAP, a top-dressing
fertilization was performed using 20 kg ha-1 of nitrogen as urea,
according to the recommendations for the crop in the state of
Pernambuco (Cavalcanti, 2008).
The beet cultivars were sown in polystyrene trays
containing 200 cells, which were filled with the commercial
substrate Plantmax. The seedlings were grown in a greenhouse
and, after 25 days, were transplanted to the field. Among the
cultural practices during the crop cycle, manual weedings and
preventive sprayings for phytosanitary control were performed.
Irrigations were daily performed using a surface drip
system, consisting of a drip tube with emitters with flow rate
of 1.6 L h-1, spaced by 0.3 m. In order to minimize problems
with emitter clogging, a disc filter (mesh: 120) was used. The
irrigation system was supplied by water from fish farm tanks
with capacity for 5 m, containing black tilapias at a population
density of 40 fish m-. In the management of the tanks, 50%
of the water was daily changed and made available for the
irrigation management. The chemical characteristics of the
irrigation water from fish farming were determined in weekly
evaluations during the experiment, and the mean values are
shown in Table 2.
The water depths applied through irrigation were calculated
based on the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) measured
Table 1. Chemical and physical characteristics of the soil in the experimental area
EC Electrical conductivity in the saturation extract; OM Organic matter; P Available phosphorus extracted with Mehlich; Ca Exchangeable calcium; Mg Exchangeable magnesium; Na
Exchangeable sodium; K Exchangeable potassium; Al Exchangeable aluminum; H + Al Potential acidity; SB Sum of bases; CEC Cation exchange capacity at pH 7.0; V Base saturation
64
Welson L. Simes et al.
Table 2. Chemical characteristics of the irrigation water from fish farming*
*Mean values; EC Electrical conductivity; Ca - Calcium; Mg - Magnesium; Na - Sodium; K - Potassium; Cl- - Chloride; SAR Sodium adsorption ratio
between irrigations, according to the tested leaching fractions.

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated through the
FAO-56 Penman-Monteith model (Allen et al., 1998), based on
meteorological data collected in an automatic weather station
located beside the experimental area. The crop coefficient (Kc)
values described by Silva et al. (2014) for beet under saline
stress were used.
Harvest was performed at 85 days after transplantation,
when the following variables were measured: number of leaves,
mean leaf length and width, length and diameter of the leaf
petiole and total and commercial yield.
Immediately after harvest, soil samples were collected for
the determination of EC at the depths of 0, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30
and 0.40 m, and distances of 0, 0.15, 0.30 and 0.45 m from the
center of the ridges outwards. EC was measured through the
saturation paste extract of each sample. The Kriging method
was used to make the EC distribution maps, in the program
Surfer.
The obtained data were subjected to analysis of variance
(ANOVA) using the program Sisvar 5.0. For the comparison
between leaching fractions, first- and second-order regression
models were evaluated, when significant, at 0.01 or 0.05
probability levels. Tukey test at 0.05 probability level was
adopted for the comparison of beet cultivars.

Irregular EC distribution along the soil profile can be
observed for the treatment with LF of 0% (Figure 1). The
salinity level in the layer of 0-0.20 m, in which most of the

root system is found (Draycott, 2006), was higher than 3 dS
m-1, reaching values above 5 dS m-1.
The increase in LF caused lower EC values in the studied
soil profile, promoting better distribution of salts (Figure
1D), thus proving to be an alternative to control the gradual
increment of salts in the zone of distribution of the root system
(Sharma & Rao, 1998; Ayers & Westcot, 1999).
The highest salt concentrations were observed in the layer
of 0-0.1 m and in the center of the ridges. These results agree
with those reported by Ferreira et al. (2006), who evaluated
the effects of leaching on a salinized soil cultivated with
beet and observed higher EC values in the superficial soil
layers. The accumulation of salts in the center of the ridges
was also expected, due to the irrigation system used in the
experiment, which promotes higher salt concentration in this
area, corresponding to the edges of the wet bulbs, and the
evaporation losses (Hanson & May, 2011).
In addition, the application of leaching fractions of 0, 5 and
10% (Figure 1) promoted poor EC distribution along the soil
profile, compared with the treatment with leaching of 15%,
since, for this fraction, soil EC was maintained around 3 dS m-1
in approximately 70% of the studied profile, with some points
of higher values in the central region of the profile, as predicted
by Hanson & May (2011).
Irrigation management using leaching fractions is
recommended by many authors for the use of waters with
high salt contents. Carvalho et al. (2011), evaluating irrigation
management in soil cultivated with cabbage irrigated with
dS m-1
Figure 1. Electrical conductivity of saturation extract (EC) distribution along the profile of a soil cultivated with table
beet cultivars subjected to leaching fractions of 0 (A), 5 (B), 10 (C) and 15% (D)

A.
B.
Yield (t ha-1)
saline water (1.89 dS m-1), observed satisfactory productions for

a LF of 20%. Oliveira et al. (2005), evaluating bean cultivation
subjected to leaching fractions, also observed that the increase
in LF promoted decrease in the mean EC of the soil profile.
Assis Jnior et al. (2007), evaluating salinity effects on cowpea
yield, observed that the effects of salinity were minimized with
the increase in LF.
No significant interactions were observed for the evaluated
biometric parameters. LF application did not interfere
significantly with the biometric characteristics of the evaluated
plants. For the comparison between cultivars, no significant
differences were observed for the characteristics of the leaf
petiole, which showed mean values of 8.51 and 4.47 cm for
length and diameter, respectively. The cultivar Scarlet Super
showed the highest number of leaves (12.9); however, the
largest leaves were observed in the cultivars Early Wonder 200
and Fortuna (Table 3).
The studied cultivars had different behaviors for total and
commercial yields as a function of the tested leaching fractions,
which showed significant interaction at 0.01 probability level.
There were no significant differences in the yields between
the cultivars, for the application of leaching fractions of 0
and 15%. The cultivar Fortuna showed the highest total and
commercial yields when subjected to the LF of 5%, 30.12
and 29.4 t ha-1, respectively. For the LF of 10%, there was no
significant difference in the total yield of the cultivars; however,
higher commercial yields were observed for the cultivars Early
Wonder 200 and Fortuna (Table 4).
According to Figure 2, the yield data were represented
by linear and quadratic regression models. The total and
commercial yields of the cultivar Scarlet Super fitted best to a
linear model, with maximum values of 26.77 and 25.52 t ha-1,
respectively (Figure 1A). The cultivars Early Wonder 200 and
Fortuna fitted best to quadratic models for the commercial
65
C.
Table 3. Comparison between beet cultivars with respect

to shoot biometric variables: number of leaves, length
and width of the largest leaf and length and diameter of
leaf petiole
Leaching fraction (%)
Means followed by equal letters in the column do not differ by Tukey test at 0.05 probability
level; NL Number of leaves; LL Leaf length; LW Leaf width; PL Petiole length; PD
Petiole diameter
Table 4. Total and commercial yields of beet cultivars

irrigated with saline water from fish farming, subjected to
different leaching fractions
Means followed by equal letters in the column do not differ by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level
Figure 2. Total and commercial yields of beet cultivars

irrigated with saline water from fish farming, subjected to
different leaching fractions: Scarlet Super (A), Early Wonder
200 (B) and Fortuna (C)
yield. From these behaviors, it was possible to find the point
of maximum commercial yield as a function of the leaching
fraction using the derivative of the equation. The maximum
commercial yield of the cultivar Fortuna (30.07 t ha-1) was
obtained with a LF of 7.9%, followed by Early Wonder 200
(25.23 t ha-1) with a LF of 9.6%.
These results are consistent with those reported by many
authors (Assis Jnior et al., 2007; Oliveira et al., 2005; Santos et
al., 2012), who evaluated the effects of the application of saline
water with leaching fractions, in various crops and in different
environments, and observed significant increases in crop yield
with the increment in the leaching fractions.
The values of commercial yield corroborate those reported
by Resende & Cordeiro (2007), who evaluated the yield of
66
Welson L. Simes et al.
beet plants irrigated with water of different salinity levels and

observed commercial yields of about 29 t ha-1 when irrigated
with salinity of 4 dS m-1, and Silva et al. (2013a), who evaluated
the production of beet irrigated with saline water and observed
significant reductions in crop yield with the increase in the
salinity levels.
Conclusions
1. The use of leaching fractions of 10 and 15% promoted
better distribution of salts along the soil profile.
2. Among the studied cultivars, Fortuna showed the highest
commercial yield for a lower leaching fraction.
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Efeitos da lixiviao e salinidade da gua sobre um solo salinizado
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C. B. Produo de milho verde cultivado irrigado por gotejamento
com gua do efluente de aquicultura. Enciclopdia Biosfera, v.8,
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Hanson, B.; May, D. Drip irrigation salinity management for row crops.
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Medeiros, C. B.; Vale, L. S. Produo e qualidade da beterraba
em funo da adubao com esterco bovino. Revista Brasileira
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de solo na produtividade de beterraba e cenoura no semi-rido
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A. C.; Cano, M. A. O. Produo e parmetros fisiolgicos do
amendoim em funo do estresse salino. Idesia, v.30, p.69-74.
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drainage water for irrigation in semi-arid regions. Soil & Tillage
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.6771, 2016

Spatial variability of air temperature in a free-stall

in the Northeastern semi-arid region of Brazil
Indira C. M. Gonalves1, Silvia H. N. Turco1 & Clvis M. C. Ramos1
1
Universidade Federal do Vale do So Francisco/Colegiado de Ps Graduao em Engenharia Agrcola. Juazeiro, BA. E-mail: indira_cristiane@hotmail.com
(Corresponding author); silvia.turco@univasf.edu.br; clovis.ramos@univasf.edu.br
Key words:
dairy cattle
thermal comfort
geostatistics
animal production systems
precision animal production
ABSTRACT
The knowledge on the spatial variability of climatic attributes and the building of Kriging maps
can assist in the design and management of confined animal facilities, by allowing a spatial
visualization that is helpful for the planning and control of information from the production
environment. The study aimed to characterize the spatial variability of air temperature in a
free-stall barn used for dairy cattle confinement located in Petrolina-PE, Brazil, in different
seasons and at different times. The variable air temperature was recorded at 136 points
distributed in the areas under the shed and the shade cloth for the study of spatial variability
and the construction of maps by Kriging. Air temperature data was collected in the winter and
in the summer, in the months of July and August (2013) and January and February (2014),
at different times (9 and 15 h). According to the results, the use of geostatistics enabled to
define areas with different spatial variabilities in air temperature and specific areas in the
free-stall with values higher than the recommended levels for thermal comfort. In addition,
the central part of the facility is the region with the lowest values of air temperatures, due to
the presence of a ridge vent.
Palavras-chave:
bovinos leiteiros
conforto trmico
geoestatstica
sistemas de produo animal
zootecnia de preciso
Variabilidade espacial da temperatura do ar

de um free-stall na regio semirida nordestina do Brasil
RESUMO
O conhecimento da variabilidade espacial de atributos climticos e a construo de mapas
de krigagem podem auxiliar no projeto e no manejo de instalaes para animais confinados,
ao permitir uma viso espacial til ao planejamento e ao controle das informaes do
ambiente de produo. O trabalho teve, como objetivo principal, caracterizar a variabilidade
espacial da temperatura do ar de um galpo free-stall utilizado para confinamento de
bovinos leiteiros, localizado na cidade de Petrolina, PE, em diferentes estaes e horrios.
A varivel temperatura do ar foi registrada em 136 pontos distribudos na rea do galpo
e sombrite, para o estudo da variabilidade espacial e a construo de mapas por krigagem.
As coletas dos dados de temperatura do ar foram realizadas nas estaes de inverno e vero,
nos meses de julho e agosto (2013), janeiro e fevereiro (2014) em diferentes horrios (9 e 15
h). Por meio dos resultados obtidos foi possvel definir reas com diferentes variabilidades
espaciais para temperatura do ar e reas especficas no free-stall que apresentaram valores
acima do recomendado para o conforto trmico animal. Notou-se tambm que a parte
central da instalao a regio que apresentou os menores valores de temperatura do ar
devido presena de um lanternim.
68
Indira C. M. Gonalves et al.
Introduction
Livestock farming is an activity highly dependent
on climatic factors, which can affect animal yield and
management (Oliveira et al., 2013). The effect of climatic
conditions on the development of dairy cows is expressive,
especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Thus, the
knowledge on the functional relationships between animals
and the environment allows adopting procedures that increase
the efficiency of dairy farming (Marcheto et al., 2002).
The optimal temperature for milk production depends on
the species, breed and degree of tolerance to heat and cold. For
Holstein-Friesian cows, great milk-producers, the thermal
neutrality zone in lactation, in terms of air temperature,
generally occurs in the interval between 4 and 26 C, which
impairs the raising of these animals under tropical climate
conditions (Perissinotto & Moura, 2007).
One way of minimizing the undesirable climatic
conditions is the use of facilities, which must provide comfort
for the animals, allowing them to express their production
potential. Facilities must be built and planned with the main
objective of reducing the action of stress agents, which can
cause undesirable effects on the animals. Environmental
variables are controlled with different building materials,
dimensioning of the physical space, density and climatization
systems (Almeida et al., 2010)
The management of the microclimate inside animal
production facilities has been widely used in the search for
the adjustment of thermal comfort conditions for the housed
animals, due to the influence of meteorological elements
that favor or hamper their development. This management
encompasses the strategies used to reduce the negative effects
of stress agents on the animal-environment relationship
(Silva et al., 2012).
In order to better evaluate the animal production
environment, innovative methods, computational evaluation
tools and the help in decision-making have been used in the
control of the welfare of the confined animals (Borges et al.,
2010).
In this context, this study aimed to characterize the spatial
variability of air temperature in a free-stall located in the
Brazilian semiarid region, in the winter and summer, using
geostatistical tools.
pre-cast concrete pillars, covered with ceramic tiles, and has

ceiling height of 2.60 m, eaves of 1.50 m and open sides. The
floor is made of grooved concrete in order to facilitate the
drainage of wastewater.
Besides the covered area in the free-stall, the facility has
a shaded area, with width of 7.8 m and length of 60.0 m. Part
of this area is covered with shade cloth, in order to reduce
the incidence of solar radiation on the animals. The design
scheme of the free-stall is shown in Figure 1.
The study was conducted in two seasons: Winter
Treatment 1 (WIN) and Summer Treatment 2 (SUM), when
air temperature data were collected in the free-stall, in the
months of July and August 2013 and January and February
2014, twice a day, at 9:00 h and at 15:00 h. According to the
Laboratory of Meteorology of the UNIVASF, the mean values
of relative air humidity in the city of Petrolina, at the time of
the collections (9:00 and 15:00 h) were 54.7 and 30.2% for
the months of July and August 2013, and 60.4 and 39.3% for
January and February 2014, respectively.
Geostatistical analysis was performed for the air
temperature in the areas of the free-stall under the shed and
the shade cloth. The data were collected at 136 equidistant
points inside the facility, spaced by 3 m. The measurements
were performed at a height of 1.5 m from the floor, in each
position of the regular grid of points.
Air temperature data were recorded using a portable
thermal anemometer (Instruterm TAD 500), with
temperature recording range from -15 to 50 C, and subjected
to geostatistical analysis. Data variability was evaluated using
descriptive statistical analysis, through the parameters mean,
median and coefficient of variation (CV).
The spatial dependence was verified through adjustments
of semivariograms (Vieira, 2000), based on the assumption of
intrinsic stationary process, which is estimated by:

The study was carried out on the Campus of Agricultural
Sciences of the Federal University of the So Francisco
Valley, where the data were collected in a free-stall of the
area destined to rural constructions, in the municipality of
Petrolina-PE, Brazil, 721 km distant from the state capital
and located at the geographical coordinates of 9 09' S 40 22'
W, with mean altitude of 365 m and mean annual rainfall of
450 mm. According to the Kppen-Geiger classification, the
climate in the city is BshW, semi-arid tropical, dry and hot.
The facility was built for the confinement of HolsteinFriesian cows, which remained in the area during the
experiment. The confinement facility has a 1.20-m-wide ridge
vent, with North-South orientation. The shed is supported by
Figure 1. Design scheme of the free-stall
=
(h)
( )
2
1
Z ( x i ) Z ( x i + h )
2N ( h ) i =1
N h
(1)
where:
N (h) - number of experimental pairs of observations
Z(xi) and Z(xi + h) separated by a distance h.
The semivariogram is represented by the graph y(h)
versus h. From the adjustment of a mathematical model to
the calculated y(h) values, the coefficients of the theoretical
model are calculated for the semivariogram (nugget effect,
C0; sill, C0 + C1; and the range, a). The selection of the best
model was based on the residual sum of squares and on the
coefficient of multiple determination (R2).
According to Trangmar et al. (1985), the nugget effect is
the value of the semivariance for the distance zero (h = 0) and
represents the analytical error, i.e., it indicates the variability
that cannot be explained; the range represents the distance
between the origin and the sill. From this point on, it is
considered that spatial dependence no longer occurs between
the samples.
The degree of spatial dependence of the studied attributes
was analyzed using the classification of Cambardella et al.
(1994), in which the spatial dependence is considered strong
for semivariograms with nugget effect < 25% of the sill,
moderate when it is between 25 and 75% and weak when it
is > 75%.

The theoretical semivariogram models considered in
the study were: spherical, exponential, linear and Gaussian,
which were adjusted through the program GS + 7.0. Then,
these models were used for the estimation of air temperature
data in non-measured points, using the interpolation method
known as ordinary Kriging. Then, the maps were formatted
and edited using the program SURFER 8.0.

The values of means, medians and coefficients of variation
for air temperature data are shown in Table 1. These results
correspond to the descriptive statistics performed in the
collected data.
69
Based on the mean values obtained from the spatial

distribution data, air temperature remained within the
comfort range only in WIN at 9 h; according to Perissinotto
et al. (2007), these values must be between 4 and 26 C for
Holstein-Friesian cows. For both treatments, at the other
observation times, the parameter air temperature was higher
than the maximum limit recommended for lactating cows.
Mean and median values are similar in both studied
treatments, indicating that the data do not show expressive
asymmetry. According to Little & Hills (1978), when mean,
median and mode values are similar, the data have or are
close to normal distribution. This can be an indication that
measurements of central tendency are not dominated by
atypical values in the distribution (Cambardella et al., 1994).
Similar results were reported by Faria et al. (2008), who
obtained normality for the attribute air temperature in a
climatized free-stall for milk cattle.
High values of the coefficient of variation (CV) can
be considered the first indication of data heterogeneity.
Considering the classification criteria of Warrick & Nielsen
(1980), which establishes low variability for CV < 12%,
medium variability for 12% < CV < 62% high variability for
CV > 62%, the variable air temperature showed low variability
(CV < 12%) at the different times and in the different
treatments. These results agree with those reported by Silva et
al. (2012), who obtained low variability for temperature data
in a non-climatized free-stall.
The parameters of the geostatistical analysis, such as the
adjusted semivariogram model, nugget effect, sill, range and
degree of spatial dependence, are shown in Table 2.
The results of the geostatistical analysis showed spatial
dependence of air temperature in both treatments (Table
2). The analysis of the semivariograms for the climatic
attributes did not indicate any preferential direction, i.e., as
claimed by Vieira (2000), in this case, the data do not have
anisotropy and the spatial variability occurs in the same way
in all directions.
The studied variable fitted to the spherical semivariogram
model, except for the treatment WIN, which fitted to the
Gaussian model at 9 h, and for the treatment SUM, which
fitted to the exponential model at 15 h.
According to Isaaks & Srivastava (1989), these models are
transitory, because they have sill, i.e., from a certain value
Table 1. Descriptive statistical analysis of air temperature (C) at 9 and 15 h
Tair Mean air temperature; CV Coefficient of variation; WIN Winter; SUM Summer
Table 2. Parameters of the experimental semivariograms of air temperature (C) at 9 and at 15 h
Tair Mean air temperature (C); (2) Treat. Treatment; (3) C0 Nugget effect; (4) C0 + C1 Sill; (5) DSD Degree of spatial dependence; R - Coefficient of determination obtained through
the cross-validation method; WIN Winter; SUM Summer
(1)
70
Indira C. M. Gonalves et al.
Distance Y (m)
of distance between samples, spatial dependence no longer

occurs. This distance is referred to as range.
According to Table 2, the highest range occurred in the
treatment WIN at 15 h, for which the fitted model managed
to verify spatial dependence of air temperature beyond the
facility limits, which was not observed at the other times.
The nugget effect reflects the non-explained variability
as a function of the distance of the sampling used, such as
local variations, analysis errors, sampling errors etc. Since it
is impossible to quantify the individual contribution of these
errors, the nugget effect can be expressed as percentage of the
sill, thus facilitating the comparison of the degree of spatial
dependence of the studied variables (Trangmar et al., 1985).
As to the degree of spatial dependence (DSD), it showed
that there was weak spatial dependence for all the studied
times in both treatments.
The Kriging maps of air temperature are shown in
Figure 2. According to the maps, air temperature values at
9 h showed higher variability inside the facility than at 15
h. At 15 h, the high homogeneity of air temperature data
occurred because the facility has open sides and a ridge
vent. In addition, at this time, the facility has been exposed
to a longer period of solar radiation, compared with 9 h,
A.
WIN
B.
C.
SUM
D.
Distance X (m)
Figure 2. Kriging maps of mean air temperature (C) at 9

h in the winter - WIN (A), 15 h in the WIN (B), 9 h in the
summer - SUM (C) and 15 h in the SUM (D)
which favors the heating of the air inside the free-stall and,
through heat exchange mechanisms such as conduction,
convection and radiation, it causes air temperature values
to be more homogeneous.
Air temperatures were lower in the covered area of the
free-stall, especially in its center. This can be explained by
the presence of the ridge vent, an opening on the top of the
roof, which is highly recommendable for proper ventilation,
since it allows a continuous renewing of air, resulting in an
adequate environment for the animals. The highest values
were observed at the edges of the free-stall, in the solarium,
indicating a possible heat stress for the animals when they
are in this region, which can affect the yields of milking
cows.
The lowest values of air temperature occurred at 9 h,
in both treatments; however, only in the winter (WIN), in
virtually the entire facility, air temperature values were within
the thermal comfort zone of Holstein-Friesian cows (between
4 and 26 C). For the other times, both in winter and summer,
air temperature values were above the thermal comfort zone
for these animals.
Since the facility has no cooling system, it is advisable that
during the winter, at 15 h, and during the summer, at all times,
the animals stay confined close to the beds, in the central part
of the facility, since it provides lower temperatures for the
animals and a consequent lower thermal stress.
Due to the higher solar radiation at 15 h, air temperature
data were higher in both seasons and the maps showed higher
homogeneity of these values at this time. All temperatures in
the free-stall, in the areas under the shed and the shade cloth,
at 9 and 15 h in the summer and at 15 h in the winter, were
above the recommended value for the thermal comfort of
the animals. In other words, regardless of the location of the
animals inside the facility, at this time they are susceptible
to thermal stress, which can cause reduction in milk
production. This is consistent with Silva et al. (2008), who
observed losses in milk production of about 0.85, 1.82, 2.78,
3.75, 4.71 and 5.70 kg of milk animal-1 d-1 for animals with
Production Level (PL) of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 kg animal-1 d-1,
during the hotter months of the year, in various regions of
the state of Pernambuco. These authors also claim that in the
semi-arid region of Pernambuco, the best climatic conditions
for animals with PL of 20 and 25 kg animal-1 d-1 occur in the
micro-regions of Garanhuns, Brejo and the Valleys of Ipojuca
and Ipanema.
Due to the spatial variability of air temperature inside the
facility, the animals will be susceptible to some areas hotter
than others, at the same times, possibly causing irregularities
in the production of milk by the confined cows. Thus, the
chronical exposure to solar radiation and environments
with high temperatures must be reduced, providing animals
with additional opportunities to lose heat, such as systems of
ventilation, sprinkler and evaporative cooling. Many of these
strategies can be implemented at low direct costs and other
alternatives can still be used based on cattle yield (Ferreira
et al., 2006).
Barbosa et al. (2004) observed that providing shade to
lactating Holstein-Friesian cows during the summer is an
efficient way to improve their comfort, as well as the use of
water spray on the animals. These authors also claim that, in
the productive aspect, the use of water spray on the animals
proved to be efficient and can be recommended under certain
technical and economic criteria, since the results are not
always positive.
Arajo et al. (2010) also found positive results regarding the
increase in yield of Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, using misting
and ventilation simultaneously. This management maintained
the animals in a safe zone, out of the thermal stress all the time,
providing conditions for maximum milk yield.
Thus, it is evident the need for the installation of cooling
mechanisms in the free-stall located in Petrolina, in the semiarid region of Pernambuco, especially on the sides of the facility,
in order to provide optimal and homogeneous conditions of air
temperature for the cows, collaborating to avoid thermal stress
and, consequently, increasing animal yield.
Conclusions
1. There was spatial variability for the variable air
temperature, and specific areas were identified in the freestall, where temperatures were above the recommended level
for the thermal comfort of the animals.
2. In the morning, for the Treatment 1, winter, almost the
entire facility has temperatures within the zone of thermal
neutrality of the animals, and the lowest temperatures are
mainly concentrated in its center, due to the presence of a
ridge vent.
3. At 15 h in the winter and at 9 and 15 h in the summer,
the entire facility has temperatures above the thermal comfort
zone of the animals and can cause heat stress.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.7277, 2016

Insecticide activity of clove essential oil on bean weevil and maize weevil
Carlos F. Jairoce1, Cristiano M. Teixeira2, Camila F. P. Nunes3,
Adrise M. Nunes2, Claudio M. P. Pereira3 & Flvio R. M. Garcia4
Universidade Lurio/Faculdade de Cincias Agrrias/Departamento de Proteco de Plantas. Sanga, Moambique. E-mail: jairoce09@gmail.com
Universidade Federal de Pelotas/Instituto de Biologia/Programa de Ps-Graduao em Entomologia. Pelotas, RS. E-mail: crisakst@yahoo.com.br;
adrisenunes@gmail.com
3
Universidade Federal de Pelotas/Centro de Cincias Qumicas, Farmacuticas e de Alimentos/Programa de Ps-Graduao em Bioqumica e Bioprospeco.
Pelotas, RS. E-mail: camilafpnunes@gmail.com; claudiochemistry@gmail.com
4
Universidade Federal de Pelotas/Instituto de Biologia/Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Gentica. Pelotas, RS. E-mail: flaviormg@hotmail.com
1
2
Key words:
control strategies
insect infestations
grain storage
ABSTRACT
Bean weevil and maize weevil can cause considerable damage to stored grains. These
insects are mainly controlled with synthetic chemical insecticides, which may bring serious
problems to human and environmental health. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the
efficiency of the essential oil of clove [Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill & Perry (Myrtaceae)
(origin: Bahia, season Sep.2014-Feb.2015)] in the control of S. zeamais and A. obtectus under
laboratory conditions. The essential oil was extracted through the classic hydrodistillation
process and its chemical components were identified via gas chromatography. Oil efficiency
was tested at the doses of 35, 17.9, 8.9, 3.6, 1.8, 0.4 and 0.2 L g-1 (derived from a pilot
study) for insect control and the LC50 was determined. The results showed that eugenol
was the major compound. The essential oil caused mortality of 100% for both species 48 h
after treatment with the concentrations of 17.9 and 35 L g-1. The LC50 for A. obtectus was
9.45 L g-1, against 10.15 L g-1 for S. zeamais. The use of clove essential oil represents a
promising alternative to be used under storage conditions for the integrated management
of stored grains pests.
Palavras-chave:
estratgias de controle
infestao por insetos
armazenamento de gros
Atividade inseticida do leo essencial de cravo-da-ndia

sobre o caruncho-do-feijo e o gorgulho-do-milho
RESUMO
O caruncho-do-feijo e o gorgulho do milho podem causar grandes prejuzos aos gros
armazenados. Entre as alternativas de controle est a utilizao de leos essenciais de plantas
com propriedades inseticidas; objetivou-se, assim, avaliar a eficincia do leo essencial
de cravo-da-ndia no controle de S. zeamais e A. obtectus em condies de laboratrio.
O leo essencial foi extrado por processo clssico de hidrodestilao e seus constituintes
qumicos foram identificados por cromatografia gasosa. A eficincia deste leo foi testada
nas doses 35; 17,9; 8,9; 3,6; 1,8; 0,4 e 0,2 L g-1 (oriundas de um trabalho piloto) no controle
dos insetos e determinada a CL50. Os resultados mostraram que o eugenol foi o composto
majoritrio. O leo essencial causou 100% de mortalidade para as duas espcies 48 h aps
o tratamento com as concentraes de 17,9 e 35 L g-1. A CL50 para A. obtectus foi 9,45
L g-1 contra 10,15 L g-1 do S. zeamais. A utilizao do leo essencial de cravo-da-ndia
representa uma alternativa promissora a ser usada em condies de armazenagem para o
manejo integrado de pragas de gros armazenados.
73
Introduction
Many internal and external factors can compromise

qualitative and quantitative characteristics of stored grains
even after drying. Among these factors, pest insects stand out,
which, besides attacking many crop development stages at the
field, also damage the stored grains, thus being considered as
cross-infestation pests (Scheepens et al., 2011). Among these
pests, the bean weevil [Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say, 1831)
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)] and the maize weevil [Sitophilus
zeamais Motschulsky, 1885 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)] stand
out. They open galleries in the grains causing commercial
depreciation, which is due to a series of characteristics of these
insects, such as high biotic potential, capacity to attack grains
both at the field and in deposits and capacity to survive at
great depths inside the mass of grains (Faroni, 1992; Martins
& Oliveira, 2009). The mean quantitative losses caused by
pests in Brazil are estimated at approximately 10.0% of the
total produced annually. This represents about 9.8 million
tons per year, according to FAO and the Brazilian Ministry of
Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Lorini, 2005).
For the control of insects in stored grains, synthetic chemical
products belonging to different toxicological classes are used.
Despite the relative efficiency of these products, the intensive use
can cause many problems, such as the occurrence of resistance in
the insects, accumulation of residues in foods, damage to human
health, environmental contamination, besides the increase
in production costs (Campos et al., 2013). One alternative to
the conventional control is the use of plants with insecticide
properties, whose parts can be prepared and applied as powders,
extracts and oils. These products have the advantages of low
cost, easy acquisition and use, their application does not require
qualified personnel and they do not have impacts on human
health and the environment (Hernndez & Vendramim, 1997;
Mazzonetto & Vendramim, 2003).
Essential oils have multiple action mechanisms on the
insects, such as acute toxicity, repellence, feeding reduction
(deterrence), growth inhibition and limitations in development
and reproduction (Coast, 1994). The essential oils of plant
species belonging to the families of Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae,
Myrtaceae, Brassicaceae, Apiaceae, Piperaceae, Lamiaceae,
Lauraceae and Verbenaceae have shown repellence against
insects of the order Coleoptera (Nerio et al., 2009). Clove
[Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill & Perry (Myrtaceae)]
stands out among the plant species producing essential oils
with insecticide potential for pest control (Ho et al., 1994;
Paranhos et al., 2006; Correa, 2011; Afonso et al., 2012). The
importance of the composition of clove essential oil must be
highlighted and it varies according to the plant part where it is
extracted from: sun-dried leaves, oven-dried leaves, peduncle
and dried flower buds (Oliveira et al., 2009).
Although the previously mentioned species produce
essential oils and their compositions have compounds with
insecticide properties, little is known with respect to the
effectiveness of these products in the control of pest insects of
stored goods. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the efficiency
of clove essential oil in the control of S. zeamais and A. obtectus,
under laboratory conditions.
The experiment was conducted in the Laboratory of Insect

Ecology, at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) (Pelotas,
RS) in 2014. The insects used in the experiment, S. zeamais and
A. obtectus, were obtained from the insect rearing maintained
by this laboratory. The experiment was set in a completely
randomized design, with eight treatments and four replicates.
The specimens of S. zeamais and A. obtectus were maintained
in laboratory in grains of maize (Zea mays) and bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris), respectively stored in glass pots with capacity for 1 kg,
wrapped with voile fabric and fixed with a rubber band. For the
insect rearing, 20 unsexed adult insects were placed in recipients
containing grains for 15 days. Then, the insects were removed
and only the eggs were left. This procedure allowed obtaining
insects with the same age for the tests.
Clove essential oil was extracted at the Laboratory of
Lipidomics and Bioorganic (LLipidomicsBio) of the UFPel,
through hydrodistillation using a Clevenger extraction
apparatus, attached to a 2000-mL volumetric flask, and a heating
mantle was used as the heat source. Clove flower buds were
obtained from a local market specialized in spices in Pelotas-RS.
The material was identified and taken to the LlipidomicsBio of
the Center of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Food Sciences,
where the samples were ground, dried and the oil was extracted.
The material came from the state of Bahia (season of Sept. 2013Feb. 2014). 100 g of the sample (dried flower buds), ground
in a knife mill, were weighed and 1500 mL of distilled water
were added. Then, the temperature of the electric mantle was
adjusted to 100 C and, after 4 h of distillation, the essential oil
was collected, centrifuged and stored in refrigeration to avoid
probable losses of volatile constituents (Brasil, 2010).
Clove essential oil components were characterized through
gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC/
FID) and gas chromatography attached to mass spectrometry
(GC/MS). The sample of clove essential oil was diluted in
acetonitrile in the proportion of 1:9 (oil:acetonitrile) for later
chromatographic injection.
Volatile molecules of the sample were identified through
GC/MS (Model QP2010 SE) using an auto-injector Shimadzu
(Kyoto, Japan). A column of fused silica (Rtx-5MS) with length
of 30 cm, internal film width of 0.25 m and diameter of 0.25
mm was used for the injection 1 L of volume in the split mode
(1:50). Ultrapure helium was used as the carrier gas at a flow
rate of 1.22 mL min-1. The temperature of the injector and the
transfer line was 280 C. The temperature ramp started at 50
C, maintained for 1 min, and then increased at a rate of 10
C min-1 until 280 C, maintaining this value for 11 min. The
total run time was 35 min. The mass spectrometer operated in
the scan mode in a range of 35-700 m/z for the identification
of the substances.
For the quantification, a GC/FID device (Model GC-2010,
Shimadzu - Kyoto, Japan) was used, with a HP1 column (30
m x 0.32 mm i.d. x 0.25 m dimethylpolysiloxane). Hydrogen
was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1 mL min-1. The
temperature ramp started at 40 C; then, it was gradually
increased at a rate of 10 C min -1 until reaching 300 C,
maintaining this temperature for 10 min. The temperature
74
Carlos F. Jairoce et al.
of the injector and the detector was 280 C. The total time of
analysis of close essential oil through GC/FID was 36 min.
The tests to evaluate the insecticide activity were carried
out in Petri dishes (90 x 15 mm), by mixing 20 g of beans to the
doses (defined in a pilot study) of 35, 17.9, 8.9, 3.6, 1.8, 0.4 and
0.2 L g-1 of clove essential oil diluted in Tween (Polysorbate 20,
hydrophilic tensioactive) at 0.2% for 2 min. The experiment had
a control treatment, which consisted of only non-treated bean
grains. Ten unsexed adults of A. obtectus were added to each
plot, with ages between 15 and 20 days. The same procedure
was performed for S. zeamais in 20 g of maize. The dishes were
sealed with a transparent tape and maintained in a climatized
B.O.D. (biochemical oxygen demand) chamber at 25 3 C, with
RU (relative air humidity) of 70 10% and photophase of 12 h.
The evaluations of susceptibility were performed 24 and 48 h
after the treatments. Insects that did no move for two minutes
were considered as dead (Antunes et al., 2013).
The efficiency of control (EC %) was calculated through
the equation of Abbott (1925):
=
EC
T Tr
100
T
where:
T - number of insects alive in the control; and
Tr - number of insects alive in the treatment.
Mortality data were subjected to analysis of variance and
the means transformed into x + 0.5 were compared by Tukey
test at 0.05 probability level (p 0.05), using the program SAS
(SAS Institute Inc., 2000). The mean lethal concentration,
sufficient to kill 50% of the population (LC 50), was also
calculated through the correlation between the concentrations
and cumulative mortalities of A. obtectus and S. zeamais 48 h
after treatment. The LC50 was calculated using the statistical
program GraphPad Prism Demo (version 5.0).

The results referring to the identification of components of
the S. aromaticum essential oil are shown in Figure 1.
According to Table 1, the analysis of the essential oil of dried
flower buds of S. aromaticum allowed the characterization
of four components, with identification above 99%, among
which eugenol was identified as the major component at
the concentration of 62.72% (peak 1), then caryophyllene
(18.46%), -caryophyllene (2.84%) and eugenol acetate
(15.97%). These values can vary depending on plant part and
the condition in which the extraction is performed, such as
sun-dried leaves, oven-dried leaves, peduncle and dried flower
buds (Oliveira et al., 2009).
The results of clove essential oil composition characterized
by gas chromatography, in this study, indicated eugenol as
the major component, which was also observed in the study
of Cunha et al. (2012). The literature points to caryophyllene,
-caryophyllene and eugenol acetate as molecules with relative
abundancy in this type of matrix. Other compounds are also
present, but not in significant proportions (Santos et al., 2007).
1) Eugenol; 2) Caryophyllene; 3) -caryophyllene; 4) Eugenol acetate
Figure 1. Chromatogram of the eugenol sample.

Characterization of eugenol and derivatives of clove
(Syzygium aromaticum) essential oil (dried flower buds
obtained from the market in Pelotas-RS) performed
through GC/FID
Table 1. Percentage of components in the essential oil
of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) (dried flower buds) as
a function of the retention time, performed through gas
chromatography
As observed in Table 2, there were no significant differences

between the concentrations of 35 and 17.9 L g-1 of clove
essential oil, with respect to its insecticide activity 24 h after
treatment application. In other words, both were different
compared with the other concentrations and the control,
reaching mean cumulative mortalities for A. obtectus of 67.5
and 62.5%, respectively.
A. obtectus mortality 48 h after the treatments was higher at
the concentrations of 17.9 and 35 L g-1 with cumulative values
of 95 and 100%; at the third concentration (8.9 L g-1), the
cumulative mortality 48 h after treatment was 45% and there
was a significant difference in relation to the other treatments.
The results show that A. obtectus mortality increases with the
increment in the period of exposure to clove essential oil; thus,
since there is a response to the increase in concentration, this
is perceptible because the concentration of 0.2 L g-1 does not
cause mortality when evaluated for the same period of exposure
of the others (Table 2).
The cumulative mortality of S. zeamais was similar to that
of A. obtectus (Table 2), reaching 67.5 and 62.5%, 24 h after
treatment, and 100 and 82.5%, 48 h after treatment, for the
concentrations of 35 and 17.9 L g-1, respectively. For both
species, clove essential oil caused mortality of up to 100% at
Table 2. Cumulative mortality Standard error (SD) of
Acanthoscelides obtectus and Sitophilus zeamais, as a
function of concentrations of the essential oil of Syzygium
aromaticum applied to bean and maize grains, 24 and 48
h after the treatment
CV Coefficient of variation; Means followed by the same letter in the columns do not differ
significantly by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level
the maximum concentration (35 L g-1), 48 h after applying

the product; however, there was no significant difference at the
concentration of 17.9 L g-1.
The insecticide activity of clove oil was confirmed by Paranhos
et al. (2006) in a study testing the effect of clove essential
oil on Zabrotes subfasciatus (Boheman, 1833) (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae). These authors observed high insect mortality and
decrease of oviposition by females when treated with this oil. This
effect can be due to the characteristics of the chemical compounds
present in the composition of this oil, especially eugenol, one of
the main compounds in clove essential oil (Huang et al., 2000).
The fumigation and contact effects of essential oils and their
chemical constituents are still little studied with respect to the
immature stages of S. zeamais and there are more studies with
other pests. Rajendran & Sriranjini (2008), in a study with
Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and
A. obtectus, Fabricius (1975) observed that the active stages
(adults and non-diapausing larvae) are more susceptible than
the sedentary stages (eggs and pupae), due to the differences
in respiratory rates.
Immediately after treatment application on the populations
of A. obtectus and S. zeamais on the Petri dish, there was
an intense agitation of the insects, which moved randomly
around the recipient. After 5 min, the insects tried to escape
through the surface of the dish. Four hours later, almost all
the insects were motionless and apparently dead and, after
48 h of exposure, a mortality of 100% was observed for the
highest concentrations in both populations. This behavior
was probably favored by the effects of fumigation and contact
of clove essential oil. According to El-Nahal et al. (1989), the
period of exposure to the essential oil is more important than
the applied dose; however, according to the results obtained
under the conditions of this study, the period of exposure
follows the applied dose in terms of efficiency (Table 2).
75
Rahman & Schmidt (1999), in study with Acorus calamus

(L.) (Acoraceae) essential oil in the form of vapor, observed that
the highest mortality of Callosobruchus phaseoli (Gyllenhal,
1833) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was related to the increase
in the period of exposure to the oil. Campos et al. (2013)
evaluated the repellent and insecticide activity of the essential
oil of Baccharisarticulata(Lam.)Pers. on the bean weevil (A.
obtectus) and observed that the dose of 52 L caused insect
mortality of 90% with exposure time of 32 h. Smaniotto et al.
(2010) observed the bioactivity of Cabralea canjerana (Vell.)
Mart. (Meliaceae) on A. obtectus and observed efficiency of
100% for the raw extract (concentration of 1%), followed by
the hexane extraction (concentration of 1%), with efficiency of
84.2%. The fractions of ethyl acetate, chloroform and essential
oil showed the lowest efficiencies in the control of this insect.
Some essential oils cause mortality, repellence, growth
effects and reductions in oviposition and emergence. In another
study, Savaris et al. (2014) observed efficiency of 100% of
essential oil of Cunila angustifolia Benth (Lamiales: Lamiaceae)
in the control of S. zeamais, and the major component was
pulegone with participation of 56.1% in the composition of its
oil. This was also observed in a study conducted by Savaris et
al. (2012), in which all the doses of C. angustifolia essential oil
showed efficiency of 100% for the mortality of A. obtectus after
24 h; the other treatments showed low efficiency, compared
with the effect of this essential oil.
In this experiment, 100% mortality was observed at the
concentration of 35 L g-1 of clove essential oil. A similar
study was performed by Prado et al. (2013), testing the
insecticide effect of the essential oil of C. angustifolia in the
control of Alphitobius diaperinus(Panzer, 1797) (Coleoptera:
Tenebrionidae), besides an efficiency of 100% for the mortality
of larvae and adults, at the concentrations of 5 and 10%.
Afonso et al. (2012) confirmed the effects of methanol and
hexane extracts of S. aromaticum on the repellence of maize
weevil in rice grains, and eugenol had effect on the adults.
In another study, Ho et al. (1994) reduced significantly the
emergence of this insect in rice grains treated with hexane
and methanol clove extracts at the dose of 1 mL 100 g-1 of rice.
In addition, in other studies (Nerio et al., 2009; Correa,
2011) showing the potential of use of clove essential oil,
whether by contact, repellence or fumigation, the authors
observed that clove essential oils can become an alternative to
the conventional insecticides for the mortality of populations
of A. obtectus and S. zeamais. However, for the application of
the essential oil, it is necessary to develop technologies that
allow greater permanence of the compounds close to the mass
of grains, increasing control efficiency and grain preservation.
The results show that, after 48 h, the lethal concentrations
sufficient to kill 50% of the individuals of A. obtectus and S.
zeamais were equal to 9.45 and 10.15 L g-1, respectively. The
obtained LC50 results confirmed the hypothesis that there are
differences in the response to the composition of the clove
essential oil used in this study between the different species.
According to Table 3, the LC50 to control the population of
A. obtectus (9.45 L g-1) was lower compared with the LC50 to
control S. zeamais (10.15 L g-1), demonstrating that A. obtectus
is more susceptible to clove essential oil than S. zeamais. The
76
Carlos F. Jairoce et al.
Table 3. Lethal concentration of clove essential oil

necessary to kill 50% of adults of Acanthoscelides obtectus
and Sitophilus zeamais applied to bean and maize grains,
and its slope 48 h after the treatment
3. The acute lethal concentrations of clove essential oil to

kill 50% of the insect population are 9.45 L g-1 for A. obtectus
and 10.15 L g-1 for S. zeamais.
Acknowledgments
To the World Bank, for the masters scholarship granted
to the first author and to the National Council for Scientific
and Technological Development (CNPq) for the research
productivity grants to the authors Claudio Martin P. Pereira
and Flvio Roberto M. Garcia.
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CI Confidence interval
lower susceptibility of S. zeamais can be associated with the

resistance observed in maize weevil populations to insecticides,
which has been pointed as one of the factors responsible for
the occurrence of failures in the control of this pest (Ribeiro
et al., 2003; Fragoso et al., 2007).
Estrela et al. (2006) observed that oils of Piper aduncum
(Linnaeus, 1753) (Piperaceae) and Piper hispidinervum C.D.C.
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LC50 of 0.56 and 1.32 L 20 g-1 of maize grains, respectively.
Negahban & Moharramipour (2007) observed that essential
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mortality of both insect populations; thus, the concentration
of 17.9 L g-1 can be considered as the best one for the control
of both populations.
In this context, the results obtained in the present study
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alternatives for the management of S. zeamais and A. obtectus in
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family agriculture products, because the release of this product
is easier to be obtained compared with synthetic insecticides.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.7884, 2016

Spatialization of soil quality index in the Sub-Basin

of Posses, Extrema, Minas Gerais
Gabriela C. Lima1, Marx L. N. Silva1, Diego A. F. de Freitas2,
Bernardo M. Cndido3, 4, Nilton Curi1 & Marcelo S. de Oliveira5
Universidade Federal de Lavras/Departamento de Cincia do Solo. Lavras, MG. E-mail: gabslima@yahoo.com.br; marx@dcs.ufla.br; niltcuri@dcs.ufla.br
Universidade Federal de Viosa. Florestal, MG. E-mail: diego_ufla@yahoo.com.br
3
Universidade Federal de Lavras. Lavras, MG. E-mail: bernardocandido@gmail.com (Corresponding author)
4
Lancaster University. Lancaster, UK
5
Universidade Federal de Lavras/Departamento de Cincias Exatas. Lavras, MG. E-mail: marcelo.oliveira@dex.ufla.br
1
2
Key words:
Kriging
SQI
Atlantic Forest
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to determine and spatialize the soil quality index (SQI), in relation to chemical
and physical attributes, and evaluate its use in the payment for environmental services in
the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema-MG, Brazil, which represents the Atlantic Forest Biome.
SQI values were influenced by both the replacement of native forests by stands of eucalyptus
and by pastures and annual crops, reflecting in the reduction of soil quality in the sampled
layer in the evaluated systems. The spatialization of SQI showed values ranging from 0.40
to 0.80, with some specific areas with high values and others with values above 1.00 (native
forest). The reforestation with eucalyptus conditioned most of the soils with low chemical and
physical deterioration, due to accumulation of litter. The lowest SQI values are associated with
pastures. SQI adjusted to the exponential model, which allowed the use of ordinary Kriging.
The SQI has a great potential of use in the payment to farmers who provide services of soil
and water conservation.
Palavras-chave:
Krigagem
IQS
Mata Atlntica
Espacializao do ndice de qualidade do solo

na Sub-Bacia das Posses, Extrema, Minas Gerais
RESUMO
Objetivou-se, com este estudo, determinar o ndice de qualidade do solo (IQS), em relao
a atributos qumicos e fsicos, e espacializ-lo, alm de avaliar a utilizao deste ndice no
pagamento por servios ambientais na Sub-Bacia Hidrogrfica das Posses, Extrema, Minas
Gerais, representativa do Bioma Mata Atlntica. Os valores do IQS foram influenciados
tanto pela substituio da mata nativa por povoamento de eucalipto, quanto por pastagens
e culturas anuais, refletindo na reduo da qualidade do solo na profundidade amostrada
nos sistemas avaliados. A espacializao do IQS apresentou valores variando de 0,40 a 0,80,
ocorrendo algumas reas pontuais com elevados ndices e algumas com ndices superiores a
1,00 (mata nativa). O reflorestamento com eucalipto condicionou solos, em sua maioria, com
baixas deterioraes fsicas e qumicas devido ao acmulo de serrapilheira. J os menores
valores do IQS esto associados s pastagens. O modelo pelo qual o IQS se ajustou foi o
exponencial, possibilitando a krigagem ordinria. O IQS apresenta grande potencial para
uso no pagamento de agricultores que prestam servios de conservao do solo e gua.
Spatialization of soil quality index in the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema, Minas Gerais
Introduction
According to Doran & Parkin (1994), soil quality is defined
as the capacity of the soil to function within the limits of the
ecosystem, managed or natural, in order to sustain biological
production and maintain environmental quality and the health
of plants and animals. Therefore, it is the capacity of the soil to
perform its functions in nature, acting as a medium for plant
development; regulation and compartmentalization of water
flow in the environment; stock and promotion of cycling of
elements in the biosphere and as an environmental buffer in
the formation, attenuation and degradation of compounds that
are harmful to the environment (Vezzani & Mielniczuk, 2009).
However, soil quality cannot be directly evaluated; it
must be inferred from soil quality indicators that are used by
farmers and scientists (Mairura et al., 2007). Thus, soil physical,
chemical and biological attributes can be used as quality
indicators, allowing the measurement of the capacity of the
soil to perform its essential functions in favor of a sustainable
management.
In this perspective, it is essential to select a minimum set
of indicators that have characteristics such as easy evaluation,
applicability on different scales, capacity of integration,
adequacy to the research analysis level, utilization in the
highest possible number of situations, sensitivity to variations
in management and climate, and possibility of measurements
through quantitative and/or qualitative methods.
Studies developed by Swanepoel et al. (2014) verified the
importance of the evaluation of the soil quality index (SQI),
in relation to the sustainability of agricultural systems, and
confirmed low SQI values inadequately managed soils.
In the evaluation of different systems of planted forest and
native cerrado, in different regions of the state of Minas Gerais,
Freitas et al. (2012) obtained SQI values that prove that these
forest management areas suffer a reduction in the indices
compared with the evaluated native systems.
Some research lines have proposed, as soil quality
indicators, the evaluation of soil physical, chemical and
biological attributes (Lima, 2013; Nesbitt & Adl, 2014). Organic
matter has also been included, for its importance in nutrient
availability, soil structure and erosion control, water retention
and the transport and immobilization of pollutants (Barrios et
al., 2006; Fliebach et al., 2007).
According to Hazarika et al. (2014), soil quality can also
be evaluated through the soil deterioration index, for which
the deviations of soil chemical and physical properties of an
area under anthropic action are compared with the baseline
of an adjacent natural area or an area with similar conditions
of soil and climate.
By establishing the indices in georeferenced points, it is
possible to spatialize them using geostatistical tools, which
provide better understanding on their variation and behavior in
the environment. Studies on spatial variability of soil attributes
are important not only in samplings or data interpretation, but
also in soil survey and classification (Lima et al., 2010; Grego
et al., 2011).
Therefore, the evaluation of soil quality in fragile biomes,
such as the Atlantic Forest, is of great importance, because
it concentrates a large portion of the Brazilian population
79
(70%) and with percentage of conserved forest remnants of

only 7.26% (Brasil, 2007). Thus, SQI determination in areas
with forest remnants, especially in the areas of water recharge
of the Cantareira System, which supplies the state of So
Paulo, constitutes a relevant tool in the implementation of
adequate management practices that promote environmental
sustainability.
In this context, this study aimed to determine and spatialize
SQI and evaluate its use in the payment for environmental
services in areas under agricultural use, forests, pastures and
remnants of the Atlantic Forest in the Sub-Basin of Posses,
Extrema-MG, Brazil.

The studied area is located in the municipality of ExtremaMG, Brazil, in the Sub-Basin of Posses, at the UTM coordinates
374500 and 371500 E and 7468200 and 7474800 S (Datum
SAD 69, Zona 23S) (Figure 1). The climate in the region is
mesothermal, with mild summers and dry winters, Cwb,
according to Kppens climate classification.
The predominant vegetation is in the biome of the Atlantic
Forest (ANA, 2008). The sub-basin is located in the Jaguari
River Basin, one of the rivers that supply the reservoir of the
Cantareira System in the state of So Paulo.
According to the classification of EMBRAPA (2013), the soil
classes in the sub-basin are: Litholic Neosol (RL), Fluvic Neosol
(RY), Red Yellow Argisol (PVA), Haplic Cambisol (CX) and
Humic Cambisol (CH) (Figure 2A). Undulating and strongly
undulating relief phases prevail in the studied area (Figure 2B).
Currently, the main soil use is pasture and most areas
have been poorly managed; in addition, there are stands of
eucalyptus, annual crops and native forest (Silva et al., 2013)
(Figure 3 and Table 1).
Prior to sample collection, a stratified soil sampling grid was
generated, with 150 points, spaced by 350 m and distributed in
an area of approximately 1,200 ha (Figure 4), using the program
ArcGIS 9.3. In areas with higher variability on the landscape, a
larger number of sampling points was used, in order to increase
their representativeness.
The samples were collected in order to represent the
five soil classes prevailing in the sub-basin and the main
Figure 1. Sub-Basin of Posses in the municipality of

Extrema-MG, Brazil. Adapted from Silva (2013)
80
Gabriela C. Lima et al.

A.
B.
Figure 2. Map of soil classes (A) and relief phases (B) of the Sub-Basin of Posses, in municipality of Extrema-MG, Brazil.
Adapted from Silva (2013)
Table 1. Characterization of the native reference systems
and other evaluated systems in the Sub-Basin of Posses,
NF - native forest; EUC - stand of eucalyptus; P - planted pasture; SCS - soil covered with
corn straw; SPP - soil prepared for potato planting; PVA - Red Yellow Argisol; CH - Humic
Cambisol; CX - Haplic Cambisol; RL - Litholic Neosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol
Figure 3. Current soil uses in the Sub-Basin of Posses,

soil uses. The GARMIN eTrex Vista global positioning
system (GPS) was used to mark the points at the field.
Soil samples were collected in each point, in the layer of
0-0.20 m, according to Lemos & Santos et al. (2005), and
the soils were classified according to EMBRAPA (2013).
Representative soil profiles were dug, considering the class

and current use of the soil for the collection of disturbed
and undisturbed samples.
The evaluation of soil quality was performed through
the SQI, using the model suggested by Islam & Weil (2000).
According to Arajo et al. (2007), for the application of the
model, a few basic assumptions must be made: the natural
ecosystems, characterized by minimum anthropic intervention
and expected equilibrium, are considered as a reference; two
categories of soil quality attributes (chemical and physical)
contribute equitably to soil quality and the same weighted value
81
Qca + Qpa
SQI = 1
(2)
where:
Qa - mean of the deviations of the indicators of each
attribute in relation to the reference;
w - value of the indicator measured in the studied systems;
k - value of the indicator measured in the reference system;
n - number of indicators constituting each set of attributes;
Qca - mean of the deviations of soil chemical attributes; and
Qpa - mean of the deviations of soil physical attributes.
Figure 4. Sampling points in the Sub-Basin of Posses,

Extrema-MG, Brazil
is attributed to each category; their respective indicators have
the same relative importance.
For SQI determination, the attributes involved in the main
functions performed by the soil (Table 2) were considered. The
analysis of soil chemical and physical attributes were performed
by Lima et al. (2014).
Table 2. Soil functions and quality indicator attributes
After one SQI was generated for each sampled point, the
deterioration indices of soil chemical and physical attributes
and the SQI corresponding to each soil class and main uses
were determined. The deterioration is considered as the
chemical and physical variations of the managed areas in
comparison to the native ones. The R program (R Core Team,
2014) was used for the descriptive analysis for each soil class,
which provided: mean, standard deviation, coefficient of
variation and asymmetry.
The adjustment parameters of the experimental semivariogram for SQI, as well as the geostatistical analysis, were
obtained using the R program (R Core Team, 2014), in the GeoR
package (Ribeiro Jnior & Diggle, 2001), performed through
the analysis of semivariograms based on the assumptions of
intrinsic hypothesis, in which the spatial dependence ratio
is the same at any h position inside a certain range of the
spatial continuity.
For each soil attribute, the semivariances g(h) were
calculated in all directions, meeting the hypothesis of isotropy.
After adjusting the mathematical model, the following
parameters were defined: nugget effect (C0), g value when h is
zero; range (a), value of h when g stabilizes close to a constant
value; (C1), structural variance and sill (C1 + C0), value of g
when a constant value is obtained close to the variance of the
data. The spatial dependence ratio (SDR) between samples was
determined according to Cambardella et al. (1994).
After obtaining the data necessary for Kriging, the maps
were constructed using the R program (R Core Team, 2014).
SQI was calculated in two steps:

w1 k1 w2 k2 w3 k3 wn kn
k1 + k2 + k3 + kn

Qa =
(1)
n
The deterioration suffered by soil chemical and physical

attributes for each soil use and each soil class, and the respective
soil quality indices, are shown in Table 3.
The SQI values calculated from the deviations of soil
properties in the systems of reforestation, annual crops and
pastures, compared with the reference natural system (native
forest), were influenced by both the replacement of native
forest by the stand of eucalyptus and pasture and annual crops,
reflecting in the reduction of soil quality in the sampled layer
in the evaluated systems.
Cardoso et al. (2011) observed, in the superficial soil layer,
the highest contents of organic matter, which mainly came from
the deposition of organic substrate in the litter, where the effect
of animal trampling was more pronounced and the activity of
soil microbiota on the decomposition and mineralization of
82
Table 3. Deterioration of soil chemical and physical

attributes in relation to the reference native systems and
soil quality indices for different systems of soil use and
management in the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema-MG,
Brazil
SQI - Soil quality index; NF - Native forest; EUC - Stand of eucalyptus; P - Planted pasture;
SCS - Soil covered with corn straw; SPP - Soil prepared for potato planting; PVA - Red Yellow
Argisol; CH - Humic Cambisol; CX - Haplic Cambisol; RL - Litholic Neosol; RY - Fluvic Neosol
the organic matter was more intense. Therefore, in this layer,

soil chemical and physical attributes were more sensitive to
the alterations imposed by anthropic action.
The alterations in the chemical attributes consisted of
deteriorations in relation to the reference (NF) for all soil
classes and uses, except for the chemical attributes in the uses
of annual crops in area of CX and reforestation in area of RY.
The preparation of the soil for potato cultivation involves
fertilization with nutrients that promote better soil fertility;
in this case, soil quality improved 0.1% in relation to NF.
However, for soil physical attributes, potato cultivation in
the CX promoted a deterioration of 1.7% in relation to NF,
certainly due to the management during harvest, which may
have affected soil structure.
Potato cultivation is frequently performed in soils with
moderate to high declivity, as the situation in the Sub-Basin
of Posses, and the soil is intensively prepared and susceptible
to losses by water erosion, compaction, reduction in water
infiltration rates and a consequent decrease in water table
recharge, which damage the environment and even make it
difficult to obtain high yields.
The area with eucalyptus reforestation in RY showed
improvement of 3.39% in soil chemical attributes, in relation
to NF; this is due to the soil correction performed before
eucalyptus was planted and the significant CEC variations
in soils under eucalyptus cultivation (Effgen et al., 2012).
Studies have shown the accumulation of N, P, K, Ca and Mg
in leaves, branches and barks, contributing to the increase of
litter, nutrient cycling and organic residues (Stape et al., 2010).
As to the physical attributes, a deterioration of approximately
15% occurred for the eucalyptus reforestation in RY. The
eucalyptus plantations in the Sub-Basin of Posses generally
occur in areas of degraded pastures and this previous soil
use can influence the deterioration of soil physical attributes,
especially in RY areas.
The soil use with pasture, which represents more than 70%
of the Sub-Basin of Posses, showed the lowest SQI compared
with NF and the other uses, in all the evaluated soil classes,
showing the highest deteriorations in both chemical and
physical attributes. The lowest SQI value (0.276) corresponds
to the use under pasture in PVA. In this situation, areas with
degraded pasture were found, i.e., areas with occurrence of
laminar erosion, usually in areas with undulating to strongly
undulating landscape.
One of the main causes of pasture degradation is the
reduction of soil fertility due to the loss of nutrients through
the production process (animal feeding), erosion, leaching
and volatilization (Fonte et al., 2014). In addition, one of the
main effects caused by the animals on pastures is compaction,
which increases soil density and decreases macroporosity,
hampering soil water movement and root growth (Swanepoel
et al., 2014).
Therefore, SQI can become an instrument to be used by
the authorities in the payment for environmental services.
Areas that maintain better SQI have lower degradation degree
of soil chemical and physical attributes, and farmers must be
valued. Thus, the index has the potential to reflect the state of
conservation or deterioration of a small farm, allowing the use
of rewards or penalties according to its value.
Based on the adjustment parameters of the semivariogram
(Table 4), the obtained value of SDR indicates a moderate spatial
dependence of SQI, according to Cambardella et al. (1994).
Thus, it was possible to interpolate values in any position of
the studied area, constructing maps through ordinary Kriging
and using structural properties of the semivariogram of the
sampled sites (Figure 5).
Table 4. Adjustment parameters of the semivariogram for
the soil quality index (SQI) of the Sub-Basin of Posses,
Extrema-MG, Brazil
SQI - Soil quality index; C0 - Nugget effect; C1 - Structural variance; (C0 + C1) - Sill; a - Range;
SDR - Spatial dependence ratio
Figure 5. Semivariogram of the soil quality index (SQI) in

the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema-MG, Brazil
The spatial distribution of the indices in the sampled area
can be observed in the map of distribution obtained through
data interpolation by the Kriging method (Figure 6).
Values from 0.40 to 0.80 prevailed in the distribution of SQI
in the Sub-Basin of Posses. Some areas showed high indices,
even higher than 1.00, as in native forest areas, while the lowest
SQI values refer to the soil use with pasture.
The map indicated areas with low SQI in the Sub-Basin
compared with NF, mainly due to the management. Because
the region has more than 70% of the area occupied by pasture,
intermediate soil quality indices prevailed.
Therefore, since the Sub-Basin of Posses is located in
area with remnants of the Atlantic Forest and is part of the
Cantareira System, the improvement of its soil quality is of
great importance to protect ecosystems and recover degraded
areas, contributing to the sustainability of the local activities
in favor of soil and water conservation.
Figure 6. Map of distribution of the soil quality index (SQI)

in the Sub-Basin of Posses, Extrema-MG, Brazil
Conclusions
1. The spatialization of soil physical and chemical attributes
in the Sub-Basin of Posses showed that the lowest soil quality
indices are related to pasture areas.
2; The reforestation with eucalyptus conditioned most of the
soils with low physical and chemical deterioration, probably
due to the accumulation of litter.
3. The soil quality index adjusted to the exponential model,
allowing the use of ordinary Kriging.
Acknowledgments
To the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher
Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Council
for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq),
for granting the scholarship to the authors and co-authors
of this study; to the Minas Gerais Research Foundation
(FAPEMIG), for the financial support to part of the project
(CAG-APQ-01423-11 and CAG-PPM-00422-11); to CNPq,
for funding the Project 471522/2012 and to the City Hall of
Extrema-MG, represented by the Secretary of Environment,
Paulo Henrique Pereira, for the logistic support, and the
83
employee Benedito Arlindo Cortes, for helping in the

fieldwork.
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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.8591, 2016

Carbon stocks of an Oxisol after thirty-eight years

under different tillage systems
Sulamirtes S. de A. Magalhaes1, Fabricio T. Ramos2 & Oscarlina L. dos S. Weber2
1
2
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso/Instituto de Biocincias. Cuiab, MT. E-mail: sulamorim@yahoo.com.br

Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso/Faculdade de Agronomia, Medicina Veterinria e Zootecnia. Cuiab, MT. E-mail; fabriciotomazramos@gmail.com
(Corresponding author); oscarlinaweber@gmail.com
Key words:
soil conservation
crop rotation
soil organic matter
ABSTRACT
Soil carbon (C) stock determination can subsidize discussions on the continuity of an
agricultural management. This study aimed to evaluate the stocks of total organic C
(STOC) and labile C (SLC), and the indices of C lability (CLI), C compartment (CCI) and C
management (CMI), and correlate them with chemical and physical attributes of a Red
Yellow Latosol (Oxisol) managed for 38 years with different tillage systems in a Cerrado
region of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected in
three layers (0-0.05, 0.05-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m). The CMI (CLI x CCI) showed higher STOC
possibly as the tillage depth decreased, because none of the tillage systems conserved STOC
and SLC in the layers of 0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m, compared with the Native Cerrado, i.e., soil
C conservation only occurred in the layer of 0.10-0.20 m. Although the percentage of SLC
in STOC was lower, only SLC was correlated with soil chemical and physical attributes and,
based on the multiple linear regression analysis, SLC was explained in 54% (R2) by the cation
exchange capacity and soil micropores. Therefore, for monitoring purposes, the SLCestimated
can be useful to evaluate soil C storage.
Palavras-chave:
conservao do solo
rotao de culturas
matria orgnica do solo
Estoques de carbono em Latossolo aps trinta

e oito anos sob diferentes sistemas de cultivo
RESUMO
A determinao do estoque de carbono do solo pode subsidiar discusses sobre manejos
agropecurios. Objetivou-se determinar os estoques de carbono orgnico total (ECOT)
e lbil (ECL) alm dos ndices de labilidade (IL), de compartimento (ICC) e de manejo
do carbono (IMC) e correlacion-los com atributos qumicos e fsicos de um Latossolo
Vermelho-Amarelo manejado por 38 anos em diferentes sistemas de cultivo em bioma
Cerrado. Coletaram-se amostras deformadas e indeformadas de solo nas camadas de 0-0,05;
0,05-0,10 e 0,10-0,20 m. Verificou-se que: o IMC (IL x ICC) acusou maior ECOT medida
que diminuiu possivelmente a profundidade de revolvimento do solo pois nas camadas
de 0-0,05 e 0,05-0,10 m nenhum sistema de cultivo conservou os ECOT e ECL comparado
ao Cerrado nativo, isto , apenas de 0,10-0,20 m ocorreu conservao do carbono no solo;
embora a porcentagem do ECL sobre o ECOT fosse menor, apenas o ECL se correlacionou com
atributos qumicos e fsicos do solo e, com base na anlise de regresso linear mltipla, o
ECL foi explicado em 54% (R2) pela capacidade de troca de ctions e os microporos do solo.
Portanto, para fins de monitoramento a ECL estimada pode ser til para avaliar a estocagem
de carbono no solo.
86
Sulamirtes S. de A. Magalhaes et al.
Introduction
There has been a general concern about water limitations
and the conservation of non-renewable natural resources.
Despite being a renewable resource, the soil is considered
as one of the focuses of attention, since it can be degraded
physically, chemically and biologically, depending on use
and management. In addition, it is known that in the process
of substitution of native environments for agricultural
activities, changes in the soil are inevitable and, depending
on management and the local edaphoclimatic potential, if
not adequate for a certain production system, the soil can
be economically and environmentally hampered (Silva &
Mendona, 2007). Additionally, there are problems related to
the few options of economically viable, large-scale crops for
crop rotation in the Cerrado region.
Among the attributes of the soil, which is sensitive to
variations in use and management, soil organic matter
(SOM) has been the most studied one, because there is a
close dependence between various chemical, physical and
biological processes in terrestrial ecosystems (Strickland &
Rousk, 2010). Many authors have pointed out its importance
for soil quality, because it influences, among other properties:
aggregate stability and soil structure (Hickmann et al. 2012);
water infiltration rate and soil water holding capacity (Rawls
et al., 2003); biological activity (Matoso et al., 2012); cation
exchange capacity, nutrient cycling and availability to plants
(Silva & Mendona, 2007); ion complexation (Botero et al.,
2010); and the release of CO2 and other gases (Lal & Bruce,
1999).
SOM comprises plant residues at different decomposition
stages, besides edaphic organisms involved in this process, and
can be associated with mineral matter in different proportions
(Santos et al., 2013). It is mainly composed of carbon (C), which
is the reason why it is expressed in content of soil organic C
(g kg-1) or mass per unit area (g m-2) for a certain soil layer.
However, its mineralization and release of gas in the form
of CO2 vary according to the degree of alterations caused in
the biophysical environment of the soil (Izaurralde & Cerri,
2006). Therefore, C can be useful as an indicator of changes
in the amount (C stock) and quality (labile and non-labile C
fractions) of organic matter in cultivated soils.
In addition, while the mineralization of labile constituents
occurs in a few weeks or months, C in the non-labile
fraction is more stable and refers to humic substances and
macromolecules of difficult decomposition by microorganisms,
showing a slower cycling compared with Clabile. Thus, SOM
fractionation based on the decomposition rate can allow
better understanding of its dynamic in the soil (Blair et al.,
1995; Silva & Mendona, 2007). Therefore, the evaluation of
SOM amount and quality can subsidize discussions on the
continuity of a management, revealing its strong and weak
points that can enhance the researches on the importance of
biodiversity in production systems, besides contributing to the
readjustment of cultural practices that aim at the homeostasis
of the production system.
Given the above, this study aimed to evaluate the stocks of
Ctotal and Clabile of a Red Yellow Latosol managed for 38 years
with different tillage systems, in the Cerrado region of Mato

Grosso, Brazil.

The study was carried out in the municipality of Campo
Verde-MT, Brazil (BR 070, km 349), at the geographical
coordinates of 15 28 41.79 S and 54 54 17.20 W, in the
Mouro Farm, at 694 m of altitude. The climate in the region is
Aw, according to Kppens classification. Rainfall regime is well
defined, with a dry period from May to September and a rainy
period from October to April. The mean annual precipitation is
1,670 mm and the mean annual temperature is 24 C. The soil
in the experimental area was classified as typical dystrophic
Red Yellow Latosol, with clayey texture and moderate texture in
the A horizon, located in a Semi-deciduous Tropical Cerrado,
on a flat relief (Santos et al., 2013). The tillage history of the
evaluated soil is described in Table 1.
In May 2010, in each soil tillage system (environments), a
300 x 300 m central area was delimited and six soil pits were
longitudinally dug, in the form of steps, for the collection
of disturbed and undisturbed soil samples in the layers of
0-0.05, 0.05-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m. Undisturbed soil samples
were collected using a Kopeck sampler for the determination
of microporosity and soil density (Donagema et al., 2011).
In the disturbed soil samples, the following parameters
were determined: particle density, for the calculation of
total porosity and then macroporosity (Ma = TP - Mi); the
percentage of sand, silt and clay, through the pipette method
using a reciprocal shaker at 100 RPM (revolutions per minute)
for 16 h to accelerate particle dispersion; contents of P and K
extracted with 0.05 mol L-1 HCl + 0.0125 mol L-1 H2SO4 and
Ca, Mg and Al extracted with 0.1 mol L-1 KCl; pH in water
and CaCl2 (Donagema et al., 2011); content of total organic
C (Yeomans & Bremner, 1988); content of labile organic C
through oxidation with KMnO4 (333 mmol L-1), according to
the methodology described in Blair et al. (1995) and modified
by Shang & Tiessen (1997); non-labile C, equivalent to the C
not oxidized by KMnO4, determined by difference, considering
the total organic C.
The total C stock was calculated for each management
system, according to Eq. 1, which was then standardized with
the values of soil density of the Native Cerrado, the control
area, for each evaluated soil layer, according to Fernandes &
Fernandes (2013), Eq. 2:
STOC =
STOC
TOC Ds H
10
Ds
TOC Ds control
Ds
=
10
(1)
(2)
where:
STOC - stock of total carbon in the evaluated soil layer, Mg ha-1;
TOC - content of total organic carbon, g kg-1;
Ds - soil density, Mg dm-3; and
Carbon stocks of an Oxisol after thirty-eight years under different tillage systems
87
Table 1. Soil use systems and their respective tillage histories
H - thickness of the evaluated soil layer, cm.

Then, based on the quantifications of C forms in the soil,
the following parameters were calculated: (i) stock of labile C
(SLC, Mg ha-1), Eq. 3; (ii) C lability index (CLI), Eq. 4; (iii) C
compartment index (CCI), Eq. 5 and (iv) C management index
(CMI), according to Blair et al. (1995), Eq. 6:
=
SLC STOC SNLC
(3)
CLI =
SLCcultivated
SLCcontrol
(4)
CCI =
STOCcultivated
STOCcontrol
(5)
was performed by F test (Fischer) and treatment means were

compared by Tukey test (P < 0.05) for STOC and SLC. Then,
bivariate correlation analysis was performed using Pearson
coefficient and t-test ( = 0.05), between the analyzed variables
in order to define the regression variable, i.e., the independent
variable(s) that best predict(s) the dependent variable, which
was the soil carbon stock. For this, a multiple linear regression
analysis (Best Subset Regression) was performed, which
estimates all the probable regression models with one, two,
three and n independent variables, identifying the model(s)
with the best combinations capable of predicting the dependent
variable using the program SigmaPlot Verso 12.5, Eq. 7:
Yi = 0 + 1X i1 + 2 X i2 + + p 1X i,p 1 + i
(7)
(6)
where:
Yi - response in the i-th test Xi1, Xi2; and
Xi,p-1 - values of the n predicting variables in the i-th test.
All data showed normal distribution according to the

Shapiro-Wilk test (P > 0.05). Thus, the analysis of variance
The parameters of the model are 0, 1, 2, 2p-1 and the error

term is i, which are independent with distribution N(0, 2).
CMI = ( CCI CLI ) 100
88
Yi is the dependent metric variable carbon stock (Mg ha-1) and

X1, X2, X3,...,Xn are independent metric variables of soil chemical
and physical attributes.
The criteria used to select the best multiple linear regression
model were the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2
Adj.) and the significance level of the beta coefficient (), a
standardized regression coefficient that allows comparing the
prediction capacity of each independent variable (Hair Jnior
et al., 2009).

In the layers of 0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m, the mean value of
the stock of total organic carbon (STOC) between the Native
Cerrado (NC) and the Intensive Pasture (IP) were equal,
while a reduction was observed for the other tillage systems.
In the layer of 0.10-0.20 m, the anthropized systems stocked
more C than the Native Cerrado (Figure 1). It is known
that the impacts of mechanical operations tend to be more
pronounced in the superficial soil layer and, therefore, soil uses
that prioritize the absence of disturbance can conserve more
organic C in surface, as verified for the pasture. This beneficial
effect of the lack of soil disturbance has been reported in
Different letters indicate differences between systems by Tukey test (P < 0.05); LSD = least
significant difference; CV = coefficient of variation
Figure 1. Stocks of total organic carbon (STOC) in the layers

of 0-0.05 (A), 0.05-0.10 (B) and 0.10-0.20 m (C) and labile
carbon (SLC) in the layers of 0-0.05 (D), 0.05-0.10 (E) and
0.10-0.20 m (F), under different management systems
(Table 1)
other edaphoclimatic conditions. Leite et al. (2010) observed

progressive increment of STOC over time, under no-tillage of
2, 4 and 6 years; even higher than under Cerrado native forest
and under conventional tillage, in a Red Yellow Latosol.
The beneficial effect of the lack of soil disturbace is
corroborated by other studies, which show higher conservation
of the soil under pasture, no-tillage and minimum tillage,
compared with the conventional tillage (Hickmann et al., 2012;
Matoso et al., 2012). According to Leite et al. (2013), pasture is
important for intercropping, because it increases soil fertility
levels and C stocks, favoring the improvement of soil quality
under Cerrado conditions. Therefore, the lower the frequency
of soil disturbance and the maturity of the conservational
tillage, the higher is the probability of organic C storage. Thus,
the increase of total C stock in the layer of 0.10-0.20 m for the
four evaluated minimum cultivation systems was possibly
due to the lower soil disturbance by mechanical operations
in this layer (Figure 1C). In addition, the removal of chemical
(limestone and gypsum applications) and physical (subsoiling)
impediments, according to Arantes et al. (2007) and Pupin et
al. (2009), respectively, favors root growth in subsurface and,
consequently, C accumulation.
As to the stock of labile C (SLC), its participation in STOC
was low. SLC mean values in the layers of 0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10
m were higher under Native Cerrado. In the layer of 0.10-0.20
m, except for the Minimum Tillage III (MT III), which showed
lower SLC, the other tillage systems showed intermediate C
stocks compared with the Cerrado. The soil disturbance in
MT III was more frequent than in MT I and II, and millet
was not cultivated independently; however, regardless of the
evaluated management system, there were higher stocks of total
organic C (Figure 1C) and labile C (Figure 1F) in the deepest
layer (0.10-0.20 m), compared with the more superficial ones
(0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m).
Therefore, the results are consistent with other studies on C
stock, because the inverse of SLC is characterized by the stock of
non-labile C (SNLC), proportionally higher than SLC (Figure 1C,
1D and 1E). While labile C is composed of plant and animal
residues in decomposition and thus an important source
of labile nutrients to plants, the non-labile C is composed
of organic residues in high degree of decomposition and
specific density; thus, the heavy fraction is important for the
sequestration of C-CO2(g) (Blair et al., 1995; Silva & Mendona,
2007).
Since the non-labile fraction is dependent on the
continuous supply of the labile fraction, it is possible to infer
about the equilibrium between these fractions promoted by a
certain management, due to changes in quality and quantity of
the supplied organic matter. These results can be important to
rethink the current management and plan techniques capable
of reducing the losses of soil organic matter. The highest values
of C lability index (CLI) and C compartment index (CCI) were
observed in the layer of 0.10-0.20 m (Figure 2A, 2B); therefore,
among the evaluated layers, the layer of 0.10-0.20 m was the
most similar to the Native Cerrado with respect to C stock.
In addition, the multiplication of CLI by CCI results in the C
management index (CMI) and, while an increase of 66% was
observed for the Intensive Pasture (IP), 41% for Minimum
89
Table 2. Correlation of the stocks of total organic carbon

(STOC), labile carbon (SLC) and non-labile carbon (SNLC) with
soil chemical and physical attributes
(1)***
Figure 2. Indices of carbon lability (A); carbon compartment

(B) and carbon management (C) in different management
systems: intensive pasture (IP), minimum tillage I (MT I);
minimum tillage II (MT II) and minimum tillage III (MT III)
Tillage I, 28% for Minimum Tillage II, there was a reduction
of approximately 37% for the Minimum Tillage III. According
to Blair et al. (1995), there is no ideal value for CMI, but this
index provides a sensitive measurement of soil C dynamics in
relation to a more stable reference system, indicating whether
a certain management system is degrading or conserving soil
C. Therefore, in the layers of 0-0.5 and 0.5-0.10 m, none of the
management systems was able to conserve C stocks, compared
with the Native Cerrado, only IP, MT I and MT II in the layer
of 0.10-0.20 m.
In the correlation of the stocks of total C (STOC), labile C
(SLC) and non-labile C (SNLC) with soil chemical and physical
attributes, STOC was positively correlated with SLC and SNLC (Table
2). Although SNLC was not correlated with any variable, SLC was
correlated with most of the analyzed chemical and physical
attributes (Table 2). According to Blair et al. (1995), although
labile C degrades faster than non-labile C, it is restored more
rapidly and only then it will be a more sensitive indicator to
evaluate C dynamics. According to Silva et al. (2011), although
the TOC analysis is sensitive to detect differences between
soil management systems, the degree of alteration is higher
in labile fractions of SOM; for these reasons, SLC can be used
as an indicator to evaluate soil tillage systems with respect to
the stock of soil organic carbon.
P < 0.0001; **P < 0.01: Significant at 0.05 probability level by t-test; nsNot significant
Since SLC was correlated with SNLC and the latter was
positively correlated with STOC, the former was selected as the
independent variable, applying the Best-Subset Regression
analysis to define the independent variable(s) that best
predict(s) SLC. Thus, it was verified that the chemical attributes
were negatively correlated with SLC and that cation exchange
capacity (CEC) showed the highest Pearson coefficient.
According to Hair Jnior et al. (2009), the occurrence of
implicit collinearity must be avoided, because it decreases the
unique variance provided by each predicting variable. Thus,
CEC was selected among the chemical attributes, because it
was correlated with pH, P, Ca, Mg, SB and V% (P < 0.05).
Among soil physical attributes, the data of sand, clay,
macropores and micropores were the ones correlated with SLC,
but since micropores were correlated with sand, the variables
clay and macropores (P < 0.05) were selected, because they
showed the highest Pearson coefficients, and the SLC was
explained in almost 54% (R2) based on the multiple linear
model (Table 3). The assumptions inherent to the regression
analysis, i.e., linearity based on Pearson coefficient of 74% and
residual independence (P > 0.05) were maintained. In addition,
the statistical model was significant by F test, with intercept
and coefficient different from zero and estimate standard error
of at most 0.962 Mg ha-1. Thus, it is possible to estimate SLC as
a function of the cation exchange capacity and the volume of
micropores in the soil (Table 3).
In the comparison between data pairs of SLCestimated and
SLCobserved, it is possible to visualize the equivalence of SLCestimated
Table 3. Regression between data pairs of labile carbon stock (SLC) versus cation exchange capacity (CEC) and soil
micropores (Mi)
N - Number of data pairs used in the adjustment; (2) r - Pearson coefficient (P < 0.0001); (3) R2 - Coefficient of determination; (4) ESE - Estimate standard error;
normality through Kolmogorov-Smirnov with correction of Lilliefors (P > 0.05); *** (P < 0.0001): Significant at 0.05 probability level by t-test
(1)
(5)
TRN - Test of residual
90
based on the bisector (1:1); therefore, an intermediate

agreement was observed in the estimate of S LCobserved by
SLCestimated, based on the angular coefficient, which was equal to
0.536 (Figure 3A). Thus, the agreement would only be perfect
if the angular coefficient were equal to one (1), consistent
with the identity line (1:1). However, given the agreement
between SLCestimated and SLCobserved through the Bland-Altman
method, which evaluates the agreement between two variables,
according to Ramos et al. (2014), it was possible to verify
that the bias was not different from zero and, statistically, it
means a valid agreement. Thus, there is no tendency in the
data around the zero value, because the expected behavior is
a random distribution of the differences around the mean of
the methods (Figure 3B).
Therefore, although the SLCobserved is averagely estimated by

cation exchange capacity and soil micropores, for monitoring
purposes, the SLCestimated can be useful to evaluate soil C stocks.
Conclusions
1. In the layers of 0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m, none of the
management systems was able to conserve stocks of total
carbon (STOC) and labile carbon (SLC), compared with the Native
Cerrado; however, in the layer of 0.10-0.20 m, these carbon
stocks were conserved in the Pasture and the Minimum Tillage
systems I and II.
2. Although the percentage of SLC in the STOC was lower, only
SLC was correlated with soil chemical and physical attributes.
3. Based on the multiple linear regression analysis, SLC was
explained in 54% (R2) by the cation exchange capacity and soil
micropores.
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Figure 3. Comparison through the bisector between the

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ISSN 1807-1929
v.20, n.1, p.9296, 2016

Droplets spectrum of air-assisted boom sprayers

under different environmental and operational conditions
Robson S. Sasaki1, Mauri M. Teixeira2, Haroldo C. Fernandes2,
Srgio Zolnier2, Christiam F. S. Maciel2 & Cleyton B. de Alvarenga3
Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais/Departamento de Engenharia e Computao. Bambu, MG. E-mail: robsonufv@gmail.com (Corresponding author)
Universidade Federal de Viosa/Departamento de Engenharia Agrcola. Viosa, MG. E-mail: mauri@ufv.br; haroldo@ufv.br; zolnier@ufv.br;
christiam.maciel@ufv.br
3
Universidade Federal de Uberlndia. Monte Carmelo, MG. E-mail: cleyton@iciag.ufu.br
1
2
Key words:
evaporation
spraying
pesticides
ABSTRACT
During pesticide spraying, the psychrometric conditions of the air may cause evaporation
of the droplets along their trajectory from the nozzle to the target. Thus, this study aimed
to evaluate the effect of air psychrometric conditions and operating pressure on the droplet
spectrum of air-assisted boom sprayers. The test was performed using a prototype equipped
with an axial fan, a flow homogenizer, temperature and relative air humidity sensors, a
spray nozzle and a gas-heating system to warm up the airflow. With the assembled system
and the aid of a particle analyser, the JSF 11002 spray nozzle was evaluated with respect
to droplet spectrum in four air psychrometric conditions (7, 14, 21 and 28 hPa) and at
four operating pressures (200, 300, 400 and 500 kPa). At the end, evaporation losses were
observed during the sprayings. For a given operating pressure and for each increment of
1 hPa in vapor pressure deficit, there was a diameter reduction of approximately 0.0759,
0.518 and 1.514 m for the parameters DV0.1, DV0.5 and DV0.9, respectively. The diameter
of the droplets decreased as the operating pressure increased.
Palavras-chave:
evaporao
pulverizao
agrotxicos
Espectro de gotas de pulverizadores hidrulicos assistidos

a ar sob diferentes condies ambientais e operacionais
RESUMO
Durante a aplicao de agrotxicos as condies psicromtricas do ar podem acarretar a
evaporao das gotas no seu trajeto entre a ponta e o alvo. Neste sentido objetivou-se, com
este trabalho, avaliar o efeito das condies psicromtricas do ar e a presso de trabalho no
espectro de gotas da pulverizao hidrulica com assistncia de ar na barra. O ensaio foi
realizado empregando-se um prottipo dotado de um ventilador axial, homogeneizador de
fluxo, sensores conjugados de temperatura e umidade relativa, ponta hidrulica e sistema
de aquecimento do ar a gs. Com o sistema montado e com o auxlio de um analisador de
partculas, avaliou-se a ponta hidrulica JSF 110-02 quanto ao espectro de gotas em quatro
diferentes condies psicromtricas do ar (7, 14, 21 e 28 hPa) e em quatro presses de
trabalho (200; 300; 400 e 500 kPa). Ao final, observaram-se perdas por evaporao durante
as pulverizaes. Para a presso de trabalho a cada incremento de 1 hPa no valor do dficit
de presso, ocorreu reduo do dimetro das gotas na ordem de 0,0759; 0,518 e 1,514 m
para os parmetros de DV0,1, DV0,5 e DV0,9, respectivamente. O dimetro das gotas reduziu
com a elevao da presso de trabalho.
Droplets spectrum of air-assisted boom sprayers under different environmental and operational conditions
Introduction
The correct application of pesticides is a complex activity
that involves the characteristics of the pest and/or disease,
selection of the product, calibration and regulation of the
machines, ability of the operator, besides the meteorological
conditions at the moment of the application; taking into
consideration all of these parameters, it is possible to perform
a good application.
It can be said that the size of the droplets is one of the
main parameters for the efficiency of pesticide application.
When small droplets are used, the coverage of the target tends
to increase, as observed by Wolf et al. (2009) and Lenz et al.
(2011). However, the fraction of droplets smaller than 100 m
can drift away (Arvidsson et al., 2011) and evaporate under
conditions of low relative air humidity. In the case of very large
droplets, there is the concern about losses of the liquid as it falls
on the leaf and runs down, thus reducing the efficiency of pest
control (Lenik et al., 2005). In the regulation of the sprayer,
droplets with enough diameter to allow a good coverage of the
target must be selected, suffering little influence of climatic
conditions at the moment of the spraying, especially with
respect to drift and evaporation.
Although the concept of droplet size is well consolidated, it
is known that during pesticide application the meteorological
conditions can alter the behavior of the droplet along its
trajectory between the hydraulic nozzle and the target. Ranz &
Marshall (1952) proposed a model to describe the evaporation
of drops and observed that the rate of reduction in droplet
diameter over time is a function of vapor pressure deficit (VPD)
and its diameter. The larger the VPD and smaller the droplet
diameter, the higher is the rate of reduction in its diameter.
Yu et al. (2009) evaluated the effect of relative air humidity
on the time of evaporation of droplets and observed that,
as humidity increased, the evaporation time also increased.
The time necessary for one droplet of 343 m to evaporate,
in artificial hydrophilic targets, was 116 and 51 s for relative
humidity conditions of 90 and 30%, respectively.
The psychrometric conditions of the air can lead to
evaporation of the sprayed droplets and, consequently, losses of
the product to the environment. There is the need for studies on
this area, using air-assisted sprayers. In this context, this study
aimed to evaluate the effect of air psychrometric conditions and
93
the operating pressure on droplet spectrum of an air-assisted

boom sprayer.

The tests were performed in the Laboratory of Agrochemical
Application Technology, at the Department of Agricultural
Engineering of the Federal University of Viosa.
In order to investigate the effect of air psychrometric
conditions in sprayers equipped with fans on spray parameters,
a prototype sprayer was developed and consisted of a wind
tunnel, a fan, a flow homogenizer and coupled sensors of
temperature and relative air humidity (model Humitter 50Y,
Vaisala Inc., Woburn, MA, USA) (Figure 1).
The prototype had a total length of 3.5 m, with a metallic
pipe installed 1 m before the fan and a PVC pipe with length of
2.5 m installed after the fan. The entire structure had a diameter
of 0.25 m. An axial fan (Model 10, Rolfes Manufacturing Co.,
Iowa, EUA) with diameter of 0.25 m was used, which was
operated by a single-phase motor of 110 V and 5.6 A, with
power of 0.19 kW.
Initially, the fan was tested for wind flow and speed, using
the method established by the Air Moving and Conditions
Association (AMCA), and the respective results were
35.15 m min-1 and 11.94 m s-1.
According to the developed prototype and aiming to verify
the effect of air temperature on droplet spectrum, a hydraulic
nozzle (model JSF 110-02) was installed at the outlet of the
wind tunnel. The hydraulic nozzle was operated through a
hydraulic piston pump (Yamaho), with rotation of 70-900 rpm
and maximum pressure of 3,516 kPa. This pump was operated
by an electrical motor (WEG), with rotation of 3,570 rpm and
power of 1.5 kW. A manometer, properly calibrated using
an A3-class standard manometer, was installed close to the
hydraulic nozzle. The manometer used showed high accuracy
in relation to the standard manometer, with maximum
difference of 20 kPa between pressure readings.
With the aid of a real-time particle analyzer (Spraytech,
Malvern Instruments Co), equipped with a 750-mm focal
lens and set to count droplets from 0.10 to 2,500 m at the
acquisition rate of 2.5 kHz and reading time of 1.5 s, droplet
spectrum tests were performed, maintaining a distance of
0.5 m between the laser beam and the hydraulic nozzle. The
Figure 1. Prototype used in the experiment: Gas heater (A), Fan (B), Air homogenizer (C), Sensors of temperature and
relative air humidity (D) and Hydraulic nozzle (E)
94
Robson S. Sasaki et al.
evaluated parameters were: DV0.1 (Droplet diameter when

10% of the sprayed liquid volume consists of droplets with
size smaller than this value); DV0.5 (Droplet diameter when
50% of the sprayed liquid volume consists of droplets with
size smaller than this value); DV0.9 (Droplet diameter when
90% of the sprayed liquid volume consists of droplets with size
smaller than this value); Span index; %V < 100; 100 < %V <
200; 200 < %V < 300; 300 < %V < 400; 400 < %V <5 00; 500
< %V < 600; %V > 450 and %V > 600 m, at the pressures of
200, 300, 400 and 500 kPa.
The air-heating system of the prototype was regulated
in order to change the environmental conditions. Air
psychrometric conditions were monitored by the sensors,
which emitted an electrical signal proportional to the
temperature and relative air humidity at that moment. Then,
these signals were interpreted by the microcontroller and read
by a computer. An algorithm was created to transform the
signals of temperature and relative air humidity automatically
into VPD, according to the equations proposed by Tetens
(1930), described by Vianello & Alves (2012). In order to
minimize errors, the data were only collected two minutes
after stabilization of air psychrometric conditions.
When the entire system was assembled, an experiment
was conducted using a completely randomized design, in 4 x
4 factorial scheme, with four vapor pressure deficits (7, 14, 21
and 28 hPa), four operating pressures (200, 300, 400 and 500
kPa) and eight replicates.
Mean values of temperature and relative air humidity, in
the evaluation of VPD effect on spray parameters during the
tests, are shown in Table 1.
The data were subjected to analysis of variance and a followup analysis of the interaction was performed regardless of F test
significance. Then, regression analyses were performed and the
models were selected according to the behavior of the obtained
data. The significance of equation coefficients () was evaluated
by t-test at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 probability levels and coefficient
of determination. The data were analysed using the program
A.
B.
E.
Table 1. Mean values of temperature and relative air

humidity during the tests for the different vapor pressure
deficit (VPD) treatments
Sisvar v.5.3 and the regression curves were plotted using the
program SigmaPlot v.12. The graphs were shown only when
the coefficient of determination (R) was higher than 0.60.

In the evaluation of droplet spectrum, except for %V >
450 m and %V > 600 m, all the other parameters showed
interaction between operating pressure and VPD.
According to the interaction between the evaluated factors, for
a certain condition of VPD, DV0.1 decreased with the increment in
the operating pressure. At the pressure of 200 kPa, a value of 93.98
m was obtained, which decreased to 68.39 m when the pressure
increased to 500 kPa. This effect of pressure was observed by
Bueno et al. (2013), working with fan-type hydraulic nozzles (AD
IA 110-02 and AD IA 110-04) and by Cunha (2007) for nozzles
of the series API 110-02 and 110-04 and for low-drift nozzles of
the series ADI 110-02. Likewise, as VPD increased for a certain
operating pressure, there was a reduction in this parameter of
approximately 0.08 m per each hPa increase in VPD. Alvarenga et
al. (2014), evaluating the effect of VPD on the deposition of liquid
in artificial targets and using a hydro-pneumatic sprayer equipped
with JA-1 hydraulic nozzles, observed DV0.1 reduction from 89 to
73 m as VPD increased from 7.6 to 17.6 hPa, corroborating the
results in the present study (Figure 2A).
The adjusted regression equations for the different evaluated
parameters, with the respective coefficients of determination,
are shown in Table 2.
C.
F.
D.
G.
Figure 2. Estimate of spray parameters for the JSF 110-02 nozzle in different conditions of operating pressure and
vapor pressure deficit (VPD). DV0.1 (A), DV0.5 (B), DV0.9 (C), %V < 100 (D), 200 < %V < 300 (E), 300 < %V < 400
(F) and 400 < %V < 500 (G)
Droplets spectrum of air-assisted boom sprayers under different environmental and operational conditions
95
Table 2. Adjusted equations for spray parameters as a function of the operating pressure (P) and the vapor pressure
deficit (VPD)
**, *, Significant at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10 level of probability, respectively
As observed for the parameter DV0.1, there was a reduction

in DV0.5 and DV0.9 with the increase of operating pressure and
VPD (Figures 2B and 2C).
Under the evaluated conditions for a given operating
pressure, the results show the effect of VPD on spray parameters.
There was a reduction in droplet diameter, as the VPD values
increased. The reductions in droplet diameter show the effect
of evaporation along the trajectory of the droplet from the
nozzle to the target. Alvarenga et al. (2014) also observed this
relationship using a hydro-pneumatic system. Nascimento et
al. (2013) evaluated different application times for the soybean
crop and observed that, depending on the hydraulic nozzle
used, the density of the droplets deposited on the target can
decrease, which shows the effect of droplet evaporation along
its trajectory. Yu et al. (2009), under laboratory conditions, with
droplets deposited on the target, observed shorter evaporation
time with the reduction in relative air humidity, confirming the
phenomenon of evaporation with the psychrometric changes
in the air, which corroborates the results in the present study.
Different results were reported by Maciel (2013), who observed
increase in droplet diameter with the increase in VPD; however,
unlike the present study, hydraulic fragmentation system
without air assistance was used.
By correlating the parameters DV 0.1, DV 0.5 and DV 0.9,
the Span index is obtained, which allows estimating how
homogeneous the droplet spectrum is. The adjusted equation
shows that, for a given VPD, there was an increase of this index
as the pressure increased; for a fixed condition of operating
pressure, the index tended to decrease with the increase in
VPD (Table 2). This occurs because the spectrum range tends
to narrow with the removal of smaller droplets by evaporation,
which is similar to the results obtained by Alvarenga et al.
(2014).
The Span index has been little mentioned in studies on
pesticide application. However, this parameter should not be
underestimated, since it provides the notion of droplet size
dispersion, i.e., the parameter DV0.5 estimates the size of the
droplet used and, along with the Span index, it verifies the degree
of homogeneity of the formed droplets; values closer to zero for
the Span index indicate a more homogeneous spectrum.
The values obtained for this parameter were considered
as satisfactory, since Minguela & Cunha (2010) recommend
values lower than 1.4 for the hydraulic application.
In addition, the effects of VPD were more pronounced at
lower pressures, i.e., at the pressure of 200 kPa, as the operating
pressure increased, the effect of VPD was attenuated.
As to the percentage of the volume that makes up the

spectrum, with the increase in the operating pressure, there
was a reduction in droplet diameter, thus increasing %V < 100
m. With the increase in VPD, there was a slight increase in
the percentage of volume of this class (Figure 2D). The effect of
pressure on the percentage of volume of droplets with diameter
smaller than 100 m was also observed by Alvarenga et al.
(2012) and Viana et al. (2010).
The percentage of volume of droplets with diameter
smaller than 100 m is one of the best parameters to predict
the potential risk of drift during the application of pesticides.
Arvidsson et al. (2011) and Bueno et al. (2013) also agree with
this claim. There is no standard value indicative of risk of drift
or safe application; however, values below 15% of droplets with
diameter smaller than 100 m are considered more adequate
for environmentally safe applications, with lower risk of drift
(Bueno et al., 2013).
The increase in %V < 100 m with the increment in VPD
increases the risk of drift. Arvidsson et al. (2011), studying
the influences of meteorological conditions on pesticide drift,
reported an increase of 0.2% in the drift of droplets for each
degree increase in temperature. Schampheleire et al. (2009),
studying strategies for the reduction of drift, observed that high
temperatures (26.2 C) and low relative air humidity (58.5%)
contributed to higher drift of droplets, compared with other
conditions considered ideal, with temperature of 14.7 C and
relative air humidity of 87.6%.
In the evaluation of the other percentages constituting the
droplet spectrum, as the operating pressure increased, at a
given air psychrometric condition, the percentage of droplets
in the class of diameter until 300 m tended to increase; after
this class, the pressure has the opposite effect, i.e., it reduces
the percentage of the volume. This also occurred for the effect
of VPD (Table 2).
A displacement in droplet size classes was observed with
the increase in VPD. As temperatures increase and relative air
humidity decreases, the losses through evaporation increase,
leading to the reduction in droplet diameter and causing this
change of class. Similar results were obtained by Maciel (2013),
working with the LD 110-02 nozzle.
In a detailed evaluation of the entire spectrum, it is
observed that the air psychrometric conditions at the moment
of the application lead to losses through evaporation and
immediately change spray parameters.
In a spraying at the field, the negligence with the
meteorological conditions of the air at the moment of the
96
Robson S. Sasaki et al.
application is frequent, but it should be pointed out that they

can lead to losses through evaporation, thus reducing the
control efficiency and resulting in environmental pollution. In
order to overcome the obstacles of meteorological conditions,
farmers increase the spraying volume. In practice, it may seem
like a solution, but in reality, it leads to higher chances of losses
to the environment, residues in foods, increase in production
costs and reduction of the operation capacity of the machine.
Conclusions
1. The air psychrometric conditions led to losses through
evaporation during the sprayings.
2. For the use of the JSF 110-02 nozzle, at a given operating
pressure, there was a reduction in the diameter of droplets with
the increment in VPD.
3. For each increment of 1 hPa in VPD, the magnitudes of
reduction in droplet diameter were approximately 0.0759, 0.518 and
1.514 m for the parameters DV0.1, DV0.5 and DV0.9, respectively.
4. There was a reduction in droplet diameter with the
increase in the operating pressure.
Acknowledgments
To the National Council for Scientific and Technological
Development (CNPq) and Foundation for Research Support of
the State of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) for the financial support.
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Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental

v.20, n.1, p.196, Janeiro, 2016

MANEJO DE SOLO, GUA E PLANTA

CONSTRUES RURAIS E AMBINCIA

ARMAZENAMENTO E PROCESSAMENTO DE PRODUTOS AGRCOLAS

GESTO E CONTROLE AMBIENTAL

Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental

v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016

Procedures for calculation of the albedo with OLI-Landsat 8 images:

Procedimentos para cmputo do albedo com imagens

Protocolo 390-2014 03/11/2014 Aprovado em 03/07/2015 Publicado em 01/12/2015

Bernardo B. da Silva et al.

that in the latter the correction is performed in the planetary

Material and Methods

Figure 1. Section of OLI-Landsat 8 image on September

respectively. The prevailing soils in the area are Latosols and

W (mm) - precipitable water, obtained as a function of

R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016.

Bernardo B. da Silva et al.

dES - Earth-to-Sun distance (astronomic unit) on the day

The value of each weight (pb) of each spectral band was

Results and Discussion

radiation based on the additive and multiplicative terms (group

Table 5. Weights to be used in albedo calculation, specific

R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016.

Table 6. Albedo of four targets for three selected ordinal

of 15-20% in all the studied targets. Areas with fruit crops,

Allen, R. G.; Tasumi, M.; Trezza, R. Satellite-based energy balance

Bernardo B. da Silva et al.

Allen, R. G.; Trezza, R.; Tasumi, M. Surface energy balance algorithms

R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.38, 2016.

Machado, C. C. C.; Silva, B. B. da; Albuquerque, M. B.; Galvncio,

Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental

v.20, n.1, p.915, 2016

Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms

Contribuio de formas no-trocveis

Protocolo 223-2014 02/07/2014 Aprovado em 03/07/2015 Publicado em 01/12/2015

Montesquieu da S. Vieira et al.

Material and Methods

by Brasil (1972) and fit in the new classification proposed

R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.915, 2016.

Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms and its accumulation in corn plants

Soil fertilization for the other cycles was performed according

Results and Discussion

Montesquieu da S. Vieira et al.

less-developed ones with higher sand contents (RR and RL).

Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms and its accumulation in corn plants

Table 5. Amounts of non-exchangeable K (Kne) and

more-developed soils with higher clay contents (PVe, PVA, LA

necessarily related to the dynamics of K release in the soils.

Montesquieu da S. Vieira et al.

but little explained (R2 = 0.43) by the variations in the Kne

Alvarez V., V. H.; Ribeiro, A. C. Calagem. In: Ribeiro, A. C.; Guimares,

Contribution of non-exchangeable potassium forms and its accumulation in corn plants

Silva, V. A.; Marchi, G.; Guilherme, L. R. G.; Lima, J. M.; Nogueira, F.

R. Bras. Eng. Agrc. Ambiental, v.20, n.1, p.915, 2016.

Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrcola e Ambiental

v.20, n.1, p.1621, 2016

Soybean nutritional status and seed physiological quality

Estado nutricional e qualidade fisiolgica de sementes

Protocolo 358-2014 09/10/2014 Aprovado em 10/07/2015 Publicado em 01/12/2015

wastewater. As to the nutritional status of soybean plants, in

Material and Methods