Utilização do biochar e do epbiochar sobre o cultivo de Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.: visando o desenvolvimento e produtividade da cultura

Abstract

With the intense demand for charcoal in the industrial sectors, mainly in the steel industry, its production level increased, placing Brazil in the spotlight Resulting from the carbonization of wood, charcoal, through processing processes becomes biochar, which can be used in agriculture due to its beneficial attributes such as: increased soil aeration; greater nutrient fixation and promotes good crop yield. Another byproduct of wood burning, pyroligneous extract (PE), which is capable of helping with plant metabolism and pest control. Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. It is one of the most consumed varieties worldwide, largely produced in Brazil, with family farming responsible for a large part of this activity. Thus, as the soils of the Northeast are characterized by low levels of productivity, the objective was to analyze the action of biochar and the EPbiochar mixture (biochar with the addition of pyroligneous extract) on the development of the cowpea crop in two stages, green and dry. The experiments were carried out in a greenhouse and were divided into two stages. Experiment 1 was carried out with the addition of biochar and EPbiochar; In experiment 2, in addition to biochar and EPbiochar, NPK fertilizer was added. Both had seven treatments, each with eight replications, where four of them had the beans harvested green and the remaining four had the beans harvested dry. Fifty-six pots were used and irrigation took place based on the difference between the average weight of the pots plastic containers were used, where water was placed inside and thus absorbed by the plants. The experiments were conducted for three and a half months and, at the end, the following were analyzed: the number of pods, length of the pods, the size and weight of the grains and dry mass of the root. It was concluded that biochar was beneficial in the production of green and dry grains, and in root development in experiment 1. The production variables for experiment 2 were benefited from biochar treatments up to the dosage of 6 t ha-1 . EPbiochar did not benefit the variables studied for cowpea.